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Expert tells House committee invited, deliberative town halls reduce polarization but verification matters
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Summary
Dr. Neblo testified that invitation-based deliberative town halls have reliably increased constituent trust and reduced affective polarization in studies, while acknowledging the need for verification methods to ensure participants are constituents.
The committee asked how institutional reforms could make constituent input more actionable. Dr. Neblo said his institute’s evidence shows deliberative town halls — especially invitation-based events — have not harmed members and can measurably increase trust and reduce polarization.
“None have gone badly,” Dr. Neblo said of the institute’s town halls, and he described results ranging from small improvements to “eye popping” gains in approval. He cited a bipartisan town hall where, two weeks after the event, “affective polarization dislike of the out party relative to the in party was as if 38 years ago.”
On the technical question of ensuring participants are actual constituents, Dr. Neblo recommended doing online town halls by invitation and using verified links. He acknowledged the risk that an invited person could share a link but said that risk appears limited and the positive effects on polarization and member-constituent trust were large in his studies.
The hearing record shows the committee explored both technology-based tools for staff and civic practices like deliberative town halls as complementary reforms to strengthen constituent engagement. No formal directives or votes were reported on these items.
