Contacting your legislator? Cite your sources – if you want them to listen to you
Retrieved on:
Monday, August 7, 2023
As a citizen, I would praise your sense of civic responsibility and willingness to express your opinion.
Key Points:
- As a citizen, I would praise your sense of civic responsibility and willingness to express your opinion.
- I teach communication and public policy at Michigan State University and study how constitutents’ communication with lawmakers affects public policy decisions.
- In today’s polarized political environment, is it possible to get through to policymakers from the other side?
Discounting opposing views
- But research has also shown that policymakers engage in what’s called biased reasoning, writing off communications from constituents who do not share their policy views.
- This discounting of constituents who disagree on policy could explain why policymakers tend to have biased perceptions of public opinion, believing the public’s attitudes to be more in line with their own positions than polling suggests.
Do your research
- We asked a national sample of elected local policymakers – among them city council members – to evaluate a hypothetical email writer randomly assigned to express support or opposition to raising the minimum wage.
- The survey was fielded by Civic Pulse, which specializes in samples of elected officials.
- We anticipated, based on research on biased reasoning, that providing clear evidence that the constituent is knowledgeable about the issue would prevent biased discounting of constituent opinion.
How to not be written off
- The effects of citing evidence are stronger than simply stating that one has read about the issue.
- Our study is important in identifying a way constituents can avoid being written off.
- When faced with evidence that their constituent knows the issue well, policymakers are less likely to discount their opinions.
How to be heard
- One way to do this is by citing quality evidence to support your position.
- When contacting a policymaker about an issue, be aware that they may discount your opinion if they disagree.