Does Calling Your MoC Work? Or Is Protesting Better

The post about calling your MoC to demand the impeachment of the Orange Caricature really hit a nerve. So, yay, Ye Olde Blogge, I guess?

The feedback seemed to have three distinct themes. First, calling doesn’t work so don’t even try. I can only assume that lots of people feel guilty about NOT calling their MoC given the shrillness of the nay-sayers and their self-righteous certainty. Second, protests, marches, and rallies were more effective than calling. Some people seemed to think that I was saying we shouldn’t protest and call instead. I can only assume those are the folks who didn’t read the post. And, third, impeachment was a waste of time.

Does Calling Your MoC Work?

Conventional wisdom has it or at least had it that calling your MoC was the single best way for the average voter to have some influence. The process was that the phone in the Congressional office rang, a staffer answered, and a tick-mark on a tally sheet generated. The elected would review the tallies at some point and incorporate the outcome. The theory was that if you felt strongly enough to call, you felt strongly enough to vote.

The poster child of calling was the anemic skinny repeal of the AMA that Republicans brought to the Senate floor in 2017. It was widely reported that phone calls saved Obamacare. The Congressional switchboard was overwhelmed by the thousands of calls that were received every day during the debate. The outcry against repeal was so severe that moderates and squishy Republicans realized their political vulnerability. Still, it took the Old Establishment “Maverick,” John McCain, to sink the repeal part of the Republican repeal and replace plan.

However, this might not be the case. The 2017 report, Citizen-Centric Advocacy: The Untapped Power of Constituent Engagement, from the Congressional Management Foundation utilized data from nine surveys of staffers from 2004 to 2016 to conclude that 84% of staffers thought that personalized phone calls had substantial influence while 92% thought personalized email did, but the single most influential tactic was a personal in-office visit.

The thing that didn’t really work? Forms. Mas petitions. Anything that smacked of boilerplate wording or a template was heavily discounted. With the rise of technology, numbers became easier to generate, so personalized communication that showed true engagement became more trusted.

Why Do People Resist Calling their MoC?

Ye Olde Blogge has been encouraging people to call their MoC’s since its inception, and the reception has always been lukewarm at best and hostile at worst. It is hard to call, but why? Research here is much more sparse, but, as usual, I’ve got a few ideas.

Most of us don’t know the issues that well. We’ve got opinions, even strongly held passionate opinions, but as every Internet trolls knows, we aren’t masters of the nitty-gritty. It’s like the difference between knowing how a zipper works and how to work a zipper. While most of us can successfully zip up our flys on nine out of ten tries, most of us can’t explain how a zippe actually achieves the task of securely holding our pants closed while being easily done up and undone.

That’s important. It’s one thing to be talking with friends and like-minded folks about the issues of the day and another to wade into potentially hostile territory to engage in a flame war. Our experience with discussing political issues is probably mostly negative and our information is based on what we’ve gleaned off of social media and headlines. We don’t want our lack of real knowledge to be exposed. It would be embarrassing.

Fear of Embarrassment = The Spiral of Silence Theory

Noelle-Neumann’s Spiral of Silence theory helps explain our fear of embarrassment. Most people fear social isolation. We monitor the opinions of those around us and self-edit. Opinions that we think will meet with acceptance and approval, we’re willing to share. Those that might result in rejection, we tend to keep quiet about.

I know, that’s not true. You don’t do that. You would never self-censor. Go to the comments and get it off of your chest. I’ll wait. And, if you’re not too derogatory, I’ll even approve them for publication.

The spiral of silence usually occurs when issues have a large emotional and moral component. Think of your favorite drunk uncle at family gatherings. It’s easy to imagine your phone call to your MAGA representative’s office going like last year’s Thanksgiving dinner discussion about Trump’s deportation policy. Most of us would rather avoid that scenario.

Calling Isn’t Sexy Because No Witnesses

Another issue is that you’re largely calling alone. Phone calls do not usually involve moe than two people, and when the other person is perceived as judgmental and argumentative, it makes you less likely to engage with them.

Even though you’ve done a hard thing that most people won’t do, it is difficult to get social recognition for calling your MoC without sounding like you’re fishing for compliments or boasting. And, because most people will feel guilty about not calling, they’ll project that hostile guilt upon you. I’ve had very few positive post-call interactions with people unless they are people who also have called and will call their MoC.

When you’re done with the call, you’ve got a lot of nervous energy with no place to expend it. You’re left with that feeling of “Now what?” because the calls go relatively quickly and without push back when they go at all. If someone answers it is a trained low-level flunky who is going to listen — not argue — and record your stance on an issue.

When call volumes are high or your MoC is just not interested in hearing from their constituents, they will leave their phones to roll over to the answering machine. When its full, it doesn’t accept new messages. It’s a strategy, but it leaves you, the caller, feeling frustrated and powerless. You can’t get through, so “Now what?”

However, calling is still a very effective way for the average constituent to influence their MoC. It’s low cost — no new equipment is needed. It can be done from the comfort of your living room. It can be done at your convenience during office hours. It takes minimal preparation, but preparation will make the experience better for you and you’ll be more effective.

Still, people resist. I think because it feels like you could easily embarrass yourself on the call, and no one wants to be embarrassed.

The Influence of Protests

The single most important issue to any elected is being re-elected. It is as if they believe that the only thing keeping the republic intact is them being in office. The things that get the attention of Congress folks are issues that might get people to the polls and vote against them.

The Need for Re-Election

Phone calls and office visits get their attention because it takes time, effort, and commitment to do them. Another thing that gets their attention are mass protests. A 2022 study of the voting patterns in the 102nd through 104th Congresses (1991 to 1997) revealed that the votes of re-election minded members supported the issues of protesters over non-protesters, especially those with low-resources, grassroot origins, and communities of colo members than well-resourced protests. Now you know the origins of the paid protester argument by Republicans.

Unfortunately, the data is dated. Many things have changed since 1997, but one thing has stayed the same, issues that spontaneously trigger protests get Congressional reactions. Low-resources grassroots protests are testaments to the issues that are important to the masses. If it will get you out on the street to protest, it very well may get you into the voting booth to cast your ballot.

From the Brooks Brothers Riot to the anti-ICE protests, we’ve seen how Congress has adapted to protests. Instead of changing policies to match the will of the people, they have used protests as cover for allowing SCOTUS to decide the outcome of a presidential election to better hiding the atrocities committed by ICE agents in our streets.

The Affect of Protests on Individuals

Protests affect the individual participants as well. There is a community to a protest. Large numbers of like-minded people have come together though their very number to show support for an issue. There is a reward for participating, a feeling of achievement.

The group takes away any individual responsibility. You don’t have to defend the position of the group. You aren’t singled out. You are a face in a crowd, a sign in a forest, a voice in a chorus. By committing to taking action on the day of the protest, studies show that you are more likely to take further action, like voting, at a later date.

Both calling your MoC and protesting have value in influencing the actions of electeds.They both have their own risks and rewards. And both demonstrate an engaged electorate, which is the basis of a democracy.

Since the studies cited here were conducted, Congress has moved to further insulate itself from the electorate. Many Republican members seem to be avoidant of their constituents preferring to allow their answering machines to fill, leave email unopened, and not hold town hall meetings. They are actively ignoring the will of the voters. Our only recourse is to continue tying to get their attention and to vote in numbers so large they cannot be avoided any longer.

Image Attribution

The image was found on The Cascadia Advocate and has a Creative Commons license.