After a lot of defamatory language, organized protests and outright aggression over the health care debate, studies now show online town hall meetings are a safe and effective alternative for healthy debate.
A new study by the Congressional Management Foundation shows online sessions between representatives and their constituents positively affect views of the official and political engagement.
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In fact, the 13 members of Congress who participated in the study saw an 18 percent jump in approval ratings, on average.
Not only did the online town hall meetings attract a more diverse group of constituents, but they increased the probability of voting for the member.
If members of Congress had only known about this a few months earlier, there may have been a bit less heat this summer at the meetings.
