How accessible are your elected officials?
September 29, 2024 8:35 PM Subscribe
Do you feel heard by your elected officials? At what levels? Why or why not? Does it make a difference whether you are the same party? How can you or do you contact them? Where do you live? Anything else relevant to add?
I live in New Zealand. It is quite possible for me to run into my local member of Parliament in the supermarket (in fact on one occasion I bumped into the Minister for Finance shopping for sausages). When it comes to local matters, or assisting consituents with navigating bureaucracy, they are generally pretty approachable - and if they aren't the staff in their offices are. And this is irrespective of party. But when it comes to policy, I have found that even when party beliefs align, and you feel really heard, it's unlikely you can make much difference, because votes are whipped. Your best bet for a genuine hearing is at select committee (these are parliamentary committees that hear submissions from the public on pending legislation) where sometimes though not always your submission can make a real difference.
At a city level councillors are generally very responsive to reasonable approaches. Their votes usually aren't whipped and they seem somehow more directly connected to voters.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:52 AM on September 30 [3 favorites]
At a city level councillors are generally very responsive to reasonable approaches. Their votes usually aren't whipped and they seem somehow more directly connected to voters.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:52 AM on September 30 [3 favorites]
I live in Wales. My newly elected MP is Labour, my previous two MPs were Tories. My AM (Welsh Assembly Member, devolved government) is a Tory. My county councillor is Plaid Cymru, stands for AM and MP whenever there is an election but without luck so far, and is the only one I have met in person -- he came to my house and sat in my kitchen and talked with me. I'm a Plaid party member.
My experience has been that they have all been very accessible and responsive, although I have not tried to contact the Tories on topics where I know we are on opposite sides. For the MPs, the response I get is generally via their staff, but one of the Tory MPs emailed me back personally and informally on one topic. The Plaid councillor is very personally active on social media (he's a bit of a rabble rouser, and good at it) and can usually be interacted with any time I like.
I contacted my Labour MP soon after the election to ask him to oppose the politicisation of trans health care and to push to drop the puberty blocker ban. He then bcc'd me a copy of the letter he sent to Wes Streeting (Health Minister) on the topic, which was absolutely ideal and hit every point one would want. So even though I didn't vote for him I'm very impressed with him so far.
posted by Rhedyn at 4:47 AM on September 30 [1 favorite]
My experience has been that they have all been very accessible and responsive, although I have not tried to contact the Tories on topics where I know we are on opposite sides. For the MPs, the response I get is generally via their staff, but one of the Tory MPs emailed me back personally and informally on one topic. The Plaid councillor is very personally active on social media (he's a bit of a rabble rouser, and good at it) and can usually be interacted with any time I like.
I contacted my Labour MP soon after the election to ask him to oppose the politicisation of trans health care and to push to drop the puberty blocker ban. He then bcc'd me a copy of the letter he sent to Wes Streeting (Health Minister) on the topic, which was absolutely ideal and hit every point one would want. So even though I didn't vote for him I'm very impressed with him so far.
posted by Rhedyn at 4:47 AM on September 30 [1 favorite]
I live in a medium size town in Massachusetts, USA, and we run on the Town Meeting System. That means that at certain times of the year, a bunch of citizens meet up at Town Hall and argue about the issues of the day and then vote. I’ve met with several of my local Town Meeting Members on things that matter to me. My state representative is, frankly, amazing, and puts lots of bills forwards that I support. When I leave a message, he personally calls me back, even if one of his staff has spoken to me. There was a specific bill last year that would have a significant effect on my life and he called me the moment it passed. (It’s not just me; he’s like this for everyone, and people in my district are generally huge fans.) My state Senator is pretty responsive; my federal representative and one senator (Ed Markey) have staff that respond when I call or email. When I email Elizabeth Warren I don’t hear a word in response. I do not feel represented by her at all.
posted by rednikki at 5:48 AM on September 30 [1 favorite]
posted by rednikki at 5:48 AM on September 30 [1 favorite]
I live in Montreal. I've had good responses from my city councillor, although she belongs to a municipal party I otherwise don't support. I've only sent her a few observations of unsafe matters around my neighbourhood (not unsafe in the sense of people, but hazardous infrastructure) and things have been dealt with after we discussed them. My impression of her is a positive one.
I've never had to communicate with my Member of the National Assembly (Quebec's parliament) although he is from a party I generally do support.
I've occasionally emailed my Member of Parliament, but since he's also the Prime Minister, I'm not surprised that I get a polite response from one of his staff, not from him.
posted by zadcat at 6:08 AM on September 30 [2 favorites]
I've never had to communicate with my Member of the National Assembly (Quebec's parliament) although he is from a party I generally do support.
I've occasionally emailed my Member of Parliament, but since he's also the Prime Minister, I'm not surprised that I get a polite response from one of his staff, not from him.
posted by zadcat at 6:08 AM on September 30 [2 favorites]
I moved recently, but had good interactions with the city councillors in my previous city. I was particularly passionate about environmental issues (turtle habitat protection) and most of the city councillors I emailed and spoke to regularly about it were engaged and answered my questions, or followed up with city staff on my behalf.
I did not have good interactions with my former Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) who is a Ontario Progressive Conservative. Probably because I was directly opposed to his stance on many issues and the way the Ontario government has handled them. And since he has refused to participate in any Pride organized or related events like for years now despite being invited repeatedl, which leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
posted by snowysoul at 6:50 AM on September 30
I did not have good interactions with my former Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) who is a Ontario Progressive Conservative. Probably because I was directly opposed to his stance on many issues and the way the Ontario government has handled them. And since he has refused to participate in any Pride organized or related events like for years now despite being invited repeatedl, which leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
posted by snowysoul at 6:50 AM on September 30
I live in Kingston, Ontario. The current city councillor representing my neighbourhood seemed like a good guy during election season, but now that he is on the council, he gets very shirty and short when you contact him about issues in the neighbourhood. Also, he did an about-face re: a current unhoused encampment area so really not happy with him.
Ted Hsu is my MLA and gets out in the community. I'm not a Liberal party voter but he engages with folks a lot. He's a nice man.
Mark Gerretsen is our MP and I do not like him. He's a legacy MP and seems to spend 99% of his job picking fights on Twitter. He never seems to show up for important issues in our city. (Again, Ted Hsu is always visible in the community.) He is also a member of the Liberal Party. (We are an NDP household.)
posted by Kitteh at 6:54 AM on September 30
Ted Hsu is my MLA and gets out in the community. I'm not a Liberal party voter but he engages with folks a lot. He's a nice man.
Mark Gerretsen is our MP and I do not like him. He's a legacy MP and seems to spend 99% of his job picking fights on Twitter. He never seems to show up for important issues in our city. (Again, Ted Hsu is always visible in the community.) He is also a member of the Liberal Party. (We are an NDP household.)
posted by Kitteh at 6:54 AM on September 30
My broader experience is that backbench MPs are pretty responsive on constituent issues but not at all on policy issues unless we happen to have the exact same position. As with NZ, party members are whipped on votes and your best chance of influencing directly is via select committees.
posted by plonkee at 8:02 AM on September 30
posted by plonkee at 8:02 AM on September 30
New Jersey USA, Andy Kim has been my House representative for many years and he is genuine, kind and responsive. During the 2021-01-06 attempted coup by Trump he was the rep you saw helping to clean up the dirt and debris in the Capitol. This election he is up for the US Senate and I hope they let him be just as effective there. To more specifically answer the question, I am the sort of citizen that will add my name/email to a "letter" about a serious issue as opposed to specifically reach out to my Congressman/Senator (e.g.., the AARP kinds of "letters"). But especially now that I am retired and dealing with various government programs I hope to be able to contact them for specific need(s) or problem(s). Of course if Trump gets elected (cringe) the GOP Project 2025 will probably eliminate social programs and the Federal infrastructure supporting them.
posted by forthright at 8:37 AM on September 30 [2 favorites]
posted by forthright at 8:37 AM on September 30 [2 favorites]
NJ USA also, my Rep is Bonnie Watson Coleman.
If anyone I've known has needed help, her staff is extremely responsive and helpful. I am a Dem and so is she, but her constituent service is non-partisan!
She attends a lot of public events, and is open to all discussions with anyone as long as they are calm and respectful.
posted by mmf at 9:16 AM on September 30
If anyone I've known has needed help, her staff is extremely responsive and helpful. I am a Dem and so is she, but her constituent service is non-partisan!
She attends a lot of public events, and is open to all discussions with anyone as long as they are calm and respectful.
posted by mmf at 9:16 AM on September 30
I'm in upstate NY. My House representative feels accessible to me because he shows up to everything. I don't know how he does it, but he is visible and happy to talk to anyone at just about every community event I attend, including things like "two kids reading the Declaration of Independence in a town of 2500."
posted by metasarah at 11:00 AM on September 30
posted by metasarah at 11:00 AM on September 30
I live in Ireland where there's 1 parliamentary rep for every 30K voters. It's cosy, like NZ above. 25 years ago, I was delegated to set up a meeting with the Shadow Minister of Education (who was brother to the last prime minister). He answered his own phone! and was happy to talk to our delegation . . . in opposition, he was hungier for 'likes'.
In the early 90s we rented an old farm-house which was just across the road from the mansion and estate occupied by Charlie "Fixer" Haughey, then Prime Minister. My landlord told me a story from the 1960s when he was having trouble getting some farming scheme approved by the Min of Ag. Haughey was then The Minister, so landlord reluctantly went on a neighbourly visit to see what he was doing wrong. The next day the relevant Ag official appeared, together with his line manager, and prefaced discussion with "please please don't call The Minister again" before sorting out the paper jam.
In fairness to Haughey, when one of the landlord's barns burned down in the middle of the night, Haughey was there in gumboots before breakfast to offer help.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:06 PM on September 30 [2 favorites]
In the early 90s we rented an old farm-house which was just across the road from the mansion and estate occupied by Charlie "Fixer" Haughey, then Prime Minister. My landlord told me a story from the 1960s when he was having trouble getting some farming scheme approved by the Min of Ag. Haughey was then The Minister, so landlord reluctantly went on a neighbourly visit to see what he was doing wrong. The next day the relevant Ag official appeared, together with his line manager, and prefaced discussion with "please please don't call The Minister again" before sorting out the paper jam.
In fairness to Haughey, when one of the landlord's barns burned down in the middle of the night, Haughey was there in gumboots before breakfast to offer help.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:06 PM on September 30 [2 favorites]
I live in Australia. We have three levels of elected government - council (local government - city, region or shire), state government and federal government.
My experience is that local councilors are pretty accessible if you are in their division, less so if not (which is perfectly reasonable) but they may be interested to speak with you if the topic is one they have specific responsibility for or interest in. Unless you are a property developer, there's not much they can do for you in reality, as local government has very narrow powers, commonly referred to as 'roads, rates and rubbish' (rates being taxes).
State governments have broader responsibilities and lots of power in areas such as education and health. Although there are also federal departments in these areas, they have little actual power due to the way the constitution was drafted. The primary power the federal government has, though, is they decide who gets most of the tax income in the country, so a state that pushes back too much on federal positions might find itself being punished for it. So your local MP or the state minister (who will refer you back to your local MP, most likely) are the best bet for being heard when it comes to things the state has responsibility for. They (or their staff) are pretty accessible and willing to talk to people whether they're in government or opposition, but that obviously impacts what (if anything) they can actually do. All state MPs have offices in their electorate that are staffed full-time and often do appearances in the community, sometimes even when there's not an election coming ;-). I live in Queensland, which has no upper house, so there are no state senators to badger with my problems.
Federal government has key responsibility for national matters like defense and any interstate or overseas trade (plus a bunch of other things). I've found MPs to be less accessible than their state counterparts, although they also have offices in their electorate and their staff are just as accessible. Ministers are quite hard to get to talk to directly, but they have a larger staff who are themselves reasonably accessible. I've found, though, that the senators are much more accessible and willing to meet with people to discuss their issues, as long as you are from the state they represent - they are very strict on this. I recently contacted all 24 senators in New South Wales and Western Australia about concerns over some legislation currently before the senate (having already passed through the house) and, with every single one, I got back a response that made it clear someone had actually read my email and was trying to respond to the issue. I ended up meeting with two of the senators in their parliamentary offices in Canberra and they were knowledgeable and approachable. One was part of the opposition's party and one was an independent - the opposition senator couldn't tell us how they might vote because they hadn't yet been told which way the party was voting, but the independent senator was happy to say they were voting against and would likely be speaking in the senate about the huge number of concerned organisations contacting them about the bill - they asked me to send them some 'talking points' to include in their speech.
When I visited the senators in Canberra, I was accompanied by my boss and a colleague, from India and Pakistan originally. They were absolutely amazed that we could just walk into Parliament House, through the public areas and into the private offices of Senators and speak with them personally. The colleague from Pakistan mentioned that the parliament there is surrounded by a 2km exclusion zone and it's more or less impossible for the average person to have any contact at all with high-level elected officials.
posted by dg at 6:52 PM on September 30
My experience is that local councilors are pretty accessible if you are in their division, less so if not (which is perfectly reasonable) but they may be interested to speak with you if the topic is one they have specific responsibility for or interest in. Unless you are a property developer, there's not much they can do for you in reality, as local government has very narrow powers, commonly referred to as 'roads, rates and rubbish' (rates being taxes).
State governments have broader responsibilities and lots of power in areas such as education and health. Although there are also federal departments in these areas, they have little actual power due to the way the constitution was drafted. The primary power the federal government has, though, is they decide who gets most of the tax income in the country, so a state that pushes back too much on federal positions might find itself being punished for it. So your local MP or the state minister (who will refer you back to your local MP, most likely) are the best bet for being heard when it comes to things the state has responsibility for. They (or their staff) are pretty accessible and willing to talk to people whether they're in government or opposition, but that obviously impacts what (if anything) they can actually do. All state MPs have offices in their electorate that are staffed full-time and often do appearances in the community, sometimes even when there's not an election coming ;-). I live in Queensland, which has no upper house, so there are no state senators to badger with my problems.
Federal government has key responsibility for national matters like defense and any interstate or overseas trade (plus a bunch of other things). I've found MPs to be less accessible than their state counterparts, although they also have offices in their electorate and their staff are just as accessible. Ministers are quite hard to get to talk to directly, but they have a larger staff who are themselves reasonably accessible. I've found, though, that the senators are much more accessible and willing to meet with people to discuss their issues, as long as you are from the state they represent - they are very strict on this. I recently contacted all 24 senators in New South Wales and Western Australia about concerns over some legislation currently before the senate (having already passed through the house) and, with every single one, I got back a response that made it clear someone had actually read my email and was trying to respond to the issue. I ended up meeting with two of the senators in their parliamentary offices in Canberra and they were knowledgeable and approachable. One was part of the opposition's party and one was an independent - the opposition senator couldn't tell us how they might vote because they hadn't yet been told which way the party was voting, but the independent senator was happy to say they were voting against and would likely be speaking in the senate about the huge number of concerned organisations contacting them about the bill - they asked me to send them some 'talking points' to include in their speech.
When I visited the senators in Canberra, I was accompanied by my boss and a colleague, from India and Pakistan originally. They were absolutely amazed that we could just walk into Parliament House, through the public areas and into the private offices of Senators and speak with them personally. The colleague from Pakistan mentioned that the parliament there is surrounded by a 2km exclusion zone and it's more or less impossible for the average person to have any contact at all with high-level elected officials.
posted by dg at 6:52 PM on September 30
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I speak to my Town officials all the time. I play(ed) softball with one and against one in the local old man softball league. They know how I am registered (with no party affiliation) but it is not relevant. Most of my interactions with them on a professional level are things like, "Can you get the pothole filled on my street" or "The town maintenance department is making all sorts of noise after midnight. Can they do their banging during the day?" type concerns.
I have also met and spoken to our State's then Governor who had more security (I think to buffer him from the constituents not would be attackers) than any politician I have ever met including two different former Presidents of the US.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:32 AM on September 30