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Kathy Goldschmidt

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    Congress

    Our democracy requires more than voting

    Kathy Goldschmidt
    December 16, 2021
    Online petition

    Constituents need a better method of engaging with their representatives than online petitions and mass email campaigns, writes Goldschmidt.

    Daniel Sambraus/EyeEm/Getty Images

    Goldschmidt is the director of strategic initiatives at the Congressional Management Foundation and co-author of "The Future of Citizen Engagement: Rebuilding the Democratic Dialogue."

    Over the past few months, Newsweek has been following the progress of a petition from citizens asking Congress to continue sending monthly stimulus checks to Americans for the duration of the pandemic. With nearly 3 million signatures, it is one of the best-supported petitions ever run on Change.org. Sadly, it will result in nearly 3 million separate email messages distributed to each signer’s senators and House members, who have no way of knowing the messages are part of such a big, national grassroots campaign. Each member of Congress will choose whether or not to act, and some of the 3 million signers who now feel part of something big may not even get a response.

    Wouldn’t it be great if we could engage with Congress in ways that help us better trust, understand and guide what they’re doing, and that make us feel like our voices really make a difference?

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