John and Seth examine the recent spate of town hall meetings held by both Democratic and Republican members of Congress. John sticks to his advice that members of Congress probably shouldn’t do these events, but that they’re good for democracy anyway, and people should attend! We talk about ways that these events can influence politics — both showing the limits of the majority party’s power and providing the opposition party with some energy and messaging ideas. We also discuss ammonia cookies.
Links:
Clarke and Markovits, “Congressional Town Halls and Legislative Effectiveness”
Gibson and King, “The Promise and Peril of Constituent Interactions”
Abernathy, Esterling, Freebourn, Kennedy, Minozzi, Neblo, and Solis, “Constituent Communication Through Telephone Town Halls”
Richard Fenno, Home Style: House Members in their Districts
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