Civic Engagement and Accountability

find your voice

It is important that you as a citizen, exercise your right to vote to have a say in who is making the decisions that affect your life on the national, state, and local levels. However, your democratic participation should not stop with the elections. You can continue to voice your opinion, ask your elected officials to support issues you care about, or voice opposition to issues you find detrimental.

There are many ways to go about contacting your elected officials and voicing your concerns. Here are some tools you can use as a resource in this process. 

Contacting Elected Officials

Contacting your elected officials is going to take some research, but we are hoping the following guidance can help you direct your research.

Decide who you want to contact and what you want to contact them about.

Who

Understand the Roles of the Different Levels of Government

Levels of Government of the United States

What

Here is a list of just some of the topics legislation is often written about: 

  • The Environment
  • LGBTQ Rights
  • Women’s Rights
  • Healthcare
  • Criminal Justice
  • Education
  • Foreign Relations
  • Housing

Call, Email, or Send Mail

Try to be as specific as possible. If it is possible, name the specific bill or issue you want addressed, if not then still be as specific as you can.

Congress

Find your Senators here.

Search for your Representative here.

Find the full text of public and private laws from the 104th Congress (1995-1996) to the current Congress here.

 

U.S Code: 

“The consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States.”

 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/USCODE

 

Search for Current Bills here:

  • Use the search tool: “Find legislation that affects you”
  • Click on the bills
  • Use the tabs at the top to read the overview, summary, and text (the actual bill)

State Legislatures

Find your state legislatures here.

Click on your state and then search the website to find the legislature(s) that represents your town/city. 

Town Government

Find your town government officials here.

Search by state then town/city. Once you are on your town/city’s website, click around the site to find your town representatives. 

  • Attend board meetings