Citizen survey

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Citizen surveys are polls that ask residents about local life and government. They cover quality of life, satisfaction with local government, and political views. Surveys can be done by mail, phone, online, or in person. Harry Hatry of the Urban Institute helped popularize them, saying residents’ opinions are as important to local leaders as customer feedback is to businesses. Local officials use the results to guide resource choices and plan programs. Private firms and universities also run citizen surveys.

In 1991, the International City and County Management Association (ICMA) published a book by Thomas Miller and Michelle Miller Kobayashi called Citizen Surveys: How To Do Them, How To Use Them, and What They Mean, which gave basic methods for conducting surveys. The book was revised and republished in 2000. In 2001, ICMA teamed up with Miller and Kobayashi’s National Research Center, Inc. to offer The National Citizen Survey, a low-cost service for local governments. The center maintains a database of more than 500 jurisdictions and over 40 million Americans, helping cities compare their results with similar communities nearby or across the nation.