Institute for Democratic Engagement & Accountability

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We are the Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability (IDEA), dedicated to fostering meaningful conversations between citizens and elected officials to strengthen democratic governance.

How much does the economy shape the way Americans think about the direction of the country?A new post from the IDEA rese...
09/03/2026

How much does the economy shape the way Americans think about the direction of the country?

A new post from the IDEA research team on Second Raven takes a closer look at the familiar “right direction/wrong track” polling question and explores whether economic concerns tell the whole story.

Read the full post: https://secondraven.substack.com/p/5db75207-dc23-443b-8914-077fc002a2ab?postPreview=free&updated=2026-09-02T16%3A19%3A48.080Z&audience=everyone&free_preview=false&freemail=true

A summer in Washington, D.C., gave IDEA Fellow Maxwell Kiernan a chance to see Congress from the inside.One moment stood...
09/02/2026

A summer in Washington, D.C., gave IDEA Fellow Maxwell Kiernan a chance to see Congress from the inside.

One moment stood out: seeing a memo he had written sitting on the Member’s desk. It was a simple reminder that the research, writing, and everyday work happening inside a congressional office can contribute to decisions that affect real people.

Maxwell returned from D.C. with a better understanding of Congress, more confidence in his own abilities, and a new perspective on the relationship between elected representatives and the people they serve.

Read the full story on our website:
https://democracyinstitute.osu.edu/news/maxwell-kiernan-reflects-his-summer-capitol-hill

What does representation look like from inside a congressional office?For Elise Britton, a 2026 IDEA Summer Democracy Fe...
08/28/2026

What does representation look like from inside a congressional office?

For Elise Britton, a 2026 IDEA Summer Democracy Fellow, part of the answer came through everyday conversations with constituents.

While working in U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown’s Washington, D.C., office, Elise listened to Ohioans who came in with questions and concerns, learned how congressional offices respond to the people they represent, and developed a deeper understanding of how advocacy and public policy connect.

She also used the summer to explore an issue that caught her attention in Washington: barriers Black women face in accessing substance-use treatment.

Looking back, Elise summed up the experience this way:

“Government is not something that happens only on Capitol Hill-it’s built through everyday conversations, grassroots organizing, and people who choose to listen, serve, and make their voices heard.”

Read more about Elise’s summer in Washington: https://democracyinstitute.osu.edu/news/what-elise-britton-learned-listening-capitol-hill

🎉 A publication milestone for IDEA-affiliated scholars and collaboratorsA study we previously highlighted as a working p...
08/20/2026

🎉 A publication milestone for IDEA-affiliated scholars and collaborators

A study we previously highlighted as a working paper is now published in Public Opinion Quarterly.

An Experimental Comparison of AI-Enabled Semi-Structured Interviews and Fixed Surveys examines whether AI interviewers can help researchers understand not only what people think but why they think it.

Using a randomized experiment with 2,243 U.S. adults, the researchers found that AI-enabled interviews elicited substantially more and more detailed reasoning than traditional survey approaches.

Importantly, the additional time and effort required for the AI interviews did not meaningfully reduce participant satisfaction or completion rates.

The study also points to an important methodological challenge. The act of asking people to explain and reflect on their views can itself influence subsequent responses, with small shifts toward more polarized positions observed under certain conditions.

As AI becomes an increasingly important part of public opinion research, these findings offer important evidence about both what these tools can reveal and how they may affect what researchers are trying to measure.

🔗 Read the published article: https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfag063

What does it look like to experience Congress from the inside?For Ryan Mahoney, an IDEA Summer Democracy Fellow, it mean...
08/18/2026

What does it look like to experience Congress from the inside?

For Ryan Mahoney, an IDEA Summer Democracy Fellow, it meant spending the summer in Rep. Emilia Sykes’ Washington, D.C., office, learning how congressional staff research legislation, work with nonpartisan resources, serve constituents, and support the legislative process.

One moment brought all of that work into focus. Ryan learned that the Congresswoman had decided to cosponsor a bill he had researched and written a memo about.

“Working in a Congressional office absolutely changed how I see the relationship between citizens and their Representatives,” Ryan said.

The fellowship also challenged him to build professional connections across Washington and gave him a new perspective on ideas he had previously studied in the classroom.

Read more about Ryan’s summer as an IDEA Democracy Fellow on our website. 👉 https://democracyinstitute.osu.edu/news/summer-inside-congressional-office

Axios reports a concerning trend: congressional town halls, once a staple of the August recess, are becoming increasingl...
08/17/2026

Axios reports a concerning trend: congressional town halls, once a staple of the August recess, are becoming increasingly rare. Only 11 lawmakers had town halls scheduled for the rest of August, following a period marked by highly contentious public meetings.

This situation presents a genuine democratic dilemma: how can we maintain direct, meaningful interactions between constituents and elected officials when the traditional format is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain?

At IDEA, this question is at the core of our work on Deliberative Town Halls (DTHs). DTHs are not merely ordinary town halls adapted for online platforms.

Instead, they employ representative recruitment, nonpartisan information dissemination, and structured moderation to foster more substantive dialogue between citizens and their representatives.

The challenge may not lie in choosing between an auditorium and Zoom. Instead, it may be about designing more effective ways for individuals and their representatives to engage in meaningful conversations and active listening.

📰 Read Axios: Congress' disappearing town halls: https://www.axios.com/2026/08/10/house-republicans-congress-town-halls?utm_source=chatgpt.com

🔎 Learn more about IDEA's Deliberative Town Hall research: https://democracyinstitute.osu.edu/

We disagree about politics. It is less obvious why.Kurt Gray studies moral psychology, and his answer is that liberals a...
08/11/2026

We disagree about politics. It is less obvious why.

Kurt Gray studies moral psychology, and his answer is that liberals and conservatives do not have different moral minds. We all worry about protecting people from harm. We see different people as vulnerable.

At Science Sundays next month, he explores what human nature and moral psychology tell us about that divide, and offers practical ways to have conversations across it. Close to home for us, since that is what our Deliberative Town Halls are built to do.

📅 Sunday, September 13, 3 p.m.
📍 Fawcett Event Center
Free and open to the public, with a reception to follow.

➡️ RSVP: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bdcqytpeKixX2K2

Every polling place in Ohio needs people to run it. People from our communities who sign up, get trained, and show up on...
08/10/2026

Every polling place in Ohio needs people to run it. People from our communities who sign up, get trained, and show up on Election Day.

Without enough poll workers, running a smooth, accessible election gets harder.

So don't let your county come up short. 🗳️

Tomorrow is National Poll Worker Recruitment Day. Ohio counties are recruiting now. Training is provided, and poll workers are paid for their service.

➡️ Put your name in at HelpAmericaVote.gov.

📉 Partisan animosity in America has been growing for decades.Not disagreement about policy. Dislike of the people who di...
08/07/2026

📉 Partisan animosity in America has been growing for decades.

Not disagreement about policy. Dislike of the people who disagree. Very little has ever been shown to reverse it.

🏛️ In October 2022, IDEA brought together more than 1,400 Americans online with the bipartisan leadership of the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, a Democrat from Washington and a Republican from South Carolina, to discuss how to improve Congress.

⏱️ The conversation lasted 90 minutes. More than 85% of participants stayed beyond the first hour.

📊 The results were remarkable.

Polarization among participants dropped to a level the United States had not seen since 1993. A control group did not move, and the effect was still present two weeks later.

📈 Trust and approval of Congress as a whole increased by 10 percentage points.

The division is real.

The evidence suggests it may also be less permanent than it appears.

📖 Read more:
democracyinstitute.osu.edu/projects/connecting-congress/scmc

📰 Headlines tell you what people answered.Second Raven helps explain why they answered that way.Second Raven explores th...
08/05/2026

📰 Headlines tell you what people answered.

Second Raven helps explain why they answered that way.

Second Raven explores the stories behind public opinion using AI, research, and careful analysis. Whether it's politics, democracy, AI, polling, or the latest public debates, our articles go beyond the numbers to uncover what people really think.

📚 Read about:
✔️ Public opinion
✔️ AI and society
✔️ Democracy
✔️ Political polarization
✔️ Political violence
✔️ Survey design
✔️ Current political issues

💙 Subscribe for free and never miss a new article:

https://secondraven.substack.com

Please like, share, and invite others who enjoy thoughtful, evidence-based research.

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2058 Derby Hall 154 N Oval Mall
Columbus, OH
43210

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