There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #20: Display symbols and signs

There is a reason people die carrying a flag. Showing colors and symbols is an emotional declaration of loyalty and commitment. There is a reason gang colors are against the dress codes of high schools in areas infested by gangs--those colors may precipitate violence, even shootings in and around school buildings.

There are also excellent reasons peace and environmental activists fly the earth flag, a flag that doesn't oppose other flags, and a flag that shows disrespect toward none--and isn't offended if it touches the ground. 

Bumperstickers, t-shirts, ball caps, pins, yard signs, and all manner of symbols and signs are a way to participate in democracy. If a neighborhood shows many signs for one candidate, others in the community can be influenced to go along, or at least not display an opposing sign. 

Like all the other ways to participate in democracy, it is not enough to wear a pin, fly a flag (or even lower it to half mast or fly upside down to indicate distress), slap on a bumper sticker, or wear a messaging t-shirt--but it is one of so many ways to exert some influence in a democracy. Going from no participation to displaying a yard sign is movement, a good start!

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #19: House party!

 An activist friend of mine decided to run for city council. In a town of hundreds of thousands, that was no small decision and no small project. I volunteered to host one house party to introduce her to folks, raise some funds, and generate interest in her ideas and candidacy. 

I set the number at 20, about what my house could hold. For those committing at least $500 I hosted a vegetarian dinner before the party, to be attended by the candidate. For everyone else, she stayed for about 20 more minutes, just to introduce herself. Then we had a discussion but also a silent auction. Up and down the hallway, items were exhibited with a bid sheet by each. There was art, books, and other items. I continued monitoring and put in some bids myself, partially to honor the donors by making sure that the value of each donated piece was met and partially to raise the levels of contributions from the silent auction.

We raised a couple thousand dollars, people met the candidate, and I gained a couple new possessions (even though I was just trying to drive up the price, that is of course the auction risk, that your bid is highest). 

House parties for candidates are one way to participate in democracy while having a bite and a beer with friends and the candidate. In my case, she won and I hosted three such parties. It felt like I made a bit of difference. She went on to create an unarmed response unit to 911 calls that didn't involve an active shooter, so I felt like a tiny part of that victory for peace and nonviolence in my town. Having a good time and participating in democracy should not be mutually exclusive but instead should be the norm. 

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #18: Sing

The famous lettering on Woody Guthrie's guitar says it all: "This machine kills fascists." 

When Odetta sang her Freedom Song it moved people to join, to sing along, to march, to stand together. 

Taylor Swift may not have won the presidential election for Kamala Harris, but there is little doubt she moved many young voters to engage for the first time. 

For reference: 

• The Greatest Generation - born 1901-1927

• The Silent Generation - born 1928-1945

• Baby Boomers - born 1946-1964

• Generation X - born 1965-1980

• Millennials - born 1981-1996

• Generation Z - born 1997-2012

• Generation Alpha - born 2013-present

Every generation has its music, some of which gets political, some of which become anthemic, rousing, like bagpipes or bugles to warriors. When a Baby Boomer hears Richie Havens sing about freedom, it means something more personal, more stirring, than if a Gen Z listener happened to hear him, but to that Gen Z listener who may have just turned 18 and is able to vote, hearing Lady Gaga's Born This Way might be a powerful activating emotional call that many Baby Boomers have never even heard. Watching Andra Day's music video, Rise Up[1], is powerful for anyone of any age, but Gen Z commentator Mia Savidge[2]connects its sustaining force to her generation: 

I grew up with the song “Rise Up” by Andra Day, and remember constantly hearing it at school, on the radio, and in choir. It’s an uplifting song that urges the listener to take action in whatever form that is applicable. Because of this, “Rise Up” is a perfect inspiration for people to make a change, such as casting their vote in the election.

While the commonality and connection on a generational basis is one power of the song, one that can continue to connect a Gen Xer from Compton to another from Burlington might be Public Enemy's Fight the Power, which may still sound thrilling and invitational to those in Gen X while sounding vaguely threatening and scary to a Baby Boomer who happened to hear it. 

Making music for your friends, for an open mic in a local coffeehouse or bar, or on the street in a political demonstration is far more accessible and still has that connecting power, just much more local. Indeed, it is the inexperienced organizer who forgets to invite musicians to a rally. 

Music can rouse, but it is sometimes most effective when it deëscalates. At a nonviolent resistance action at a US thermonuclear command base in northern Wisconsin's Chequamegon Forest, some 150 of us faced off at the front gate and started our planned action by bringing out pickaxes and shovels. We dug big holes in the gravel road at the entrance and planted trees we had brought from our own lands sprinkled throughout the northwoods. We literally tore up the road. All the while, musician Glenn Walker Johnson, carrying his small homemade harp, went up to every military member and all law enforcement officers, smiling, playing gentle music, just calming everyone even as the pickaxes swung and the dirt flew. I continue to believe Glenn's beatific smile and soothing harp likely saved some peace protesters' heads from getting thumped. That was not a moment for some swelling bagpipes playing The Campbells Are Coming. We already had that energy as we landscaped the military base entrance with pine saplings. Glenn's harp consciously comforted the armed agents of the state with the knowledge we'd be done with our acts of resistance soon enough; I suspect he prevented what could have been the collective amygdala hijack of some dangerous men in the middle of the woods on their turf. 

Indeed, they allowed us to leave. As one of the organizers, I stayed to make sure everyone was safe. As I finally walked down their military base entrance road to the US Forest Service Road where everyone was getting in their cars to drive out, I was accompanied by both the sheriff and the base commander, named Paul, a man originally from the Deep South. I said, Paul, "I want to thank you for being so controlled and measured today." He answered, "Well, y'all behaved yourselves." 

We had just torn up his driveway. He didn't even ask the sheriff to make any arrests. This was the same commander who, when we told him ahead of time what we planned, had said, "Y'all do that and you'll be hurt worse than you ever imagined." 

Years later, I remain convinced that it was a musician who prevented some likely injuries and even arrests that day. 

Music reaches parts of us that intellectual argument misses. Music can greatly enhance our participation in democracy. Indeed, we continued to offer nonviolent resistance to that command base and we won. Like so many nonviolent struggles for greater voice for peace and justice in a democratic campaign, music was a factor at every stage, from the Catholic Worker Farm Family Band getting us roused up with songs like, "I'd rather be shoveling shit on the farm than shoveling shit in the White House," to the calmative harp in the midst of the most robust actions, music enables, energized, and, when necessary, calmed. It shaped our emotions in the moment, strengthening our resistance even as it kept it safer.

---

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwgr_IMeEgA

[2] https://wmscradio.com/wmsc-music-picks-gen-z-political-music/

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #17: Intern

This is the sort of golden opportunity that dedicated activists might well seek. Each elected official, whether at the municipal, state, or federal level, has different duties they assign to interns. The learning and networking can be an outstanding foray into the mechanics and bureaucratic mysteries that result in public policy. 

"To the students that are thinking of going into government, politics, and/or law, this is a life-changing internship that will prepare you for those jobs," said Cheyenne Yap, a political science student at St. Martin's University in Washington State. What did she learn and experience? "This internship consists of doing policy research, constituent casework and correspondence, and being involved with the Civic Education program as well."[1]

What about legislative internships at the federal level? The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences has granular advice[2] for aspiring players in our democracy, including to apply for internships with the congressional committee that deals with an area of special interest to the intern, which they say is more valuable for someone vitally interested in helping shape public policy than interning for an individual member of Congress. 

They also note, "Internships are just as political as the rest of Congress. Many internships are awarded not only for merit but also based on where you are from. Consider a committee or subcommittee chaired by a Congressmen [sic] or Senator from your home state."

Just to keep it weird, some Congressional interns were celebrities[3] before, during, or after their internships--e.g., Marisa Tomei, Ben Savage, Michael Thomas, Sigourney Weaver, Alec Baldwin, Bill Gates, Conan O'Brien. Perhaps the halls of Congress alienate them enough to drive them to other work--or, perhaps that internship cements their lifelong interest in participating in democracy. After all, Sigourney Weaver has given speeches at Democratic National Conventions and Conan O'Brien has interviewed many illustrious politicians on his late night program.

---

[1] https://www.stmartin.edu/news-and-stories/stories/life-legislative-intern

[2] https://rockefeller.dartmouth.edu/news/2014/10/internships-101-interning-congressional-committee-0

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5igpQ4ontMA

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #16: Run!

Aside from voting itself, running for office is the most obvious way to participate in democracy. 

What are the considerations? They include, but are not limited to: 

What issues are of the most importance to you? Who decides whether to act on those issues? Are the most important decisions about your chosen issues made at the local, state, or national levels? Do you believe you can qualify to run and serve in political office? Can you handle the invasive scrutiny into your personal life that often accompanies a run for office and a sitting official if you win? Can your family withstand that pressure? Can you garner the financial backing to run a competitive race for office?

Obviously, most regular folks would start by running for a local office and do so when the chances looked best. In Portland, Oregon, for example, voters decided in the previous election cycle to change the form of city government, including expanding the city council from five seats to 12, and the city had some matching funds that went to candidates that met a threshold of numbers of contributors. Further, the city was experiencing many urgent problems, including massive numbers of homeless squatting on sidewalks with prevalent open drug use, and a destructive anarchic culture routinely smashing windows and generally rioting. This combination led to an enormous outpouring of candidates--more than 80 who registered to run for those 12 seats. Many of the candidates came with scant funding yet stayed in the race until election day. 

Running for less controversial office is sometimes possible--local elected offices are unique to each jurisdiction and frequently include technical or administrative offices that can even attract only one candidate at times. If your background is strong in an area that you feel called to manage, perhaps that is an office to seek, especially if you have limited means to fund a campaign and there is little or no competition for that office.

State offices, naturally, vary from state to state in the US, with basic similarities--there is a governor in each state and some legislative body--and some differences. If you decide you want it, take some steps to learn much more than you already do because it's tough to be both an expert in issues and the mechanics of running for office. Seek advice[1]. Talk to former and current officeholders. Consider applying for one of the candidate bootcamps that prepare people to run for office, like Veterans Campaign, Run For Something, The Campaign Workshop and American Majority. 

Running for federal office--House of Representatives, Senate, President--is clearly much more daunting, with much higher hurdles[2]. Finding mentors, advisors, and supporters is a strong requirement, even for wealthy people who can fund a substantial campaign. 

Read some histories of those who have achieved the office you most desire. Learn the different paths taken by those who succeeded--there may be some stepping stones you didn't know existed, some routes that might seem somewhat circuitous but which have resulted in gaining the elected office that makes the decisions you wish to be able to make for the benefit of all. 

---

[1] https://www.npr.org/2019/10/15/770332855/how-to-run-for-office

[2] https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/registering-candidate/

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #15: Volunteer for a political campaign

Considering the many ways to participate in democracy, what can possibly be done by "aliens," that is, non-citizen residents of a country? Turns out, a great deal (Barreto & Munoz, 2003). Sociologists Matt Barreto and José A. Muñoz studied the political involvement of millions of non-citizen Hispanic members of US society and found that, not only did they frequently volunteer for political campaigns, they often did so in unusual proportions normally predicted by social scientists who study the relative practices of populations sorted by socioeconomic status (SES).

They note that, " Whether they are legal permanent residents, temporary guest workers, or undocumented, noncitizen immigrants are still impacted by public policy in America and are not passive bystanders" (p. 430).

Part of the reason a higher percentage of such groupings engage in volunteering for various campaigns, they suggest, is that a high percent of the noncitizens residing in the US are applying for US citizenship or intend to seek it. They are learning about the political processes, as any naturalized citizen must, and are in a heightened state of awareness of the potential efficacy of the participation by individuals and collectives, making their involvement therefore much more logical. 

A child can volunteer. A noncitizen can volunteer. A person otherwise unable or even forbidden from voting can still participate in democracy.

Campaigns that are in touch with and in tune with their constituents will make the best use of such volunteers. If the campaign strives to learn about their volunteers they will highly value languages, SES, workplace connections, and other factors that can help campaigns understand and best serve the demographics to which their volunteers belong. A Spanish-speaking volunteer canvassing either door-to-door, in a phone bank, or being at a public place with a table full of bilingual campaign materials ready to engage with Spanish-speaking voters is a highly effective volunteer, even if that volunteer cannot vote. When a campaign understands the recent immigration numbers in their voting jurisdiction, they can especially gain traction with the help of any volunteers who speak the native language of the immigrants who are both naturalized citizens able to vote and who speak that other language as their first language. 

There are congressional districts, for example, with large groupings of Somalis, many of whom are naturalized yet still struggle with English as their second, third, or fourth language. Other districts have significant numbers of relatively recently naturalized Russian, Laotian, Eritrean, Cuban, and other new US citizens who can be mobilized in part by those who speak their mother tongue, even if those campaign volunteers cannot themselves vote. 

A multilingual cohort of eager campaign volunteers can make a vital difference to a campaign, and when their candidate wins, they may well solidify an intent to never stop volunteering, never stop participating in a democracy that is answering to them.

References

Barreto, M. A., & Munoz, J. A. (2003). Reexamining the “Politics of In-Between”: Political Participation Among Mexican Immigrants in the United States. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 25(4), 427. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/10.1177/0739986303258599 

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #14: Unofficial petition

Yes, there are official petitions in about half the US that you can create to attempt to gather enough signatures of verified registered voters to force a potential ordinance, state constitutional amendment, state law, or other measures onto actual election ballots. 

And there are unofficial petitions that can potentially generate the change you may be seeking. 

We were told that our northern Wisconsin county was going to make a bid to become a "low level" nuclear waste dump. Most of us had moved there to enjoy the beauty of the pristine groundwaters and boreal forest. Needless to say, the idea of a radioactive waste dump offended, alarmed, and enraged us. We generated a petition against it and, in a county of a few thousand people, got thousands of signatures, some from county residents, some from second-home lake cabin owners, some from tourists who only heard about it from us and were shocked. So the petition was not limited to registered voters, nor was it official. But it got the job done. 

We put those petitions on "tractor" paper from old-style computer printers. We all attended the well-attended first and last public hearing on the question. One of our members, when it was his turn to testify, took a thick stack of the computer paper and explained the number of folks who signed a petition against any nuclear waste dump in our county. Another member took the top sheet and began to walk backwards down the public hearing aisle in the middle of the mass of chairs. He kept backing up, and the computer paper, all attached to the next sheet, made a long line of petitions, all attached, stretching to the very back of the public hearing hall. 

"As you can see," said the man testifying, this long line of petitions isn't even 20 percent of the total. You have mass opposition to your proposal." 

That was the end of the idea of a nuclear waste repository in that county. Unofficial petitions can create very official results in our democracy.

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #13: Demonstrate

Votes are counted, and when elections are rigorously monitored, those counts are generally trusted, though that trust has broken down to some degree in countries like the US that have been increasingly afflicted with gaslighting politicians seemingly unembarrassed to blatantly lie.

Polls are less trusted, even if we trust their honesty. 

In the midst of all this uncertainty, gathering a crowd to express a political opinion is a literal demonstration that, at the least, a viewable number of people hold a viewpoint. Gathering people who may or may not have been polled, and gathering them at a time chosen by the organizers rather than by election law or officials, is a snapshot of the popularity of a viewpoint.

What does a demonstration do?

·       It shows officials an actual body count of people who have a strong enough opinion to leave their homes to gather in demonstration.

·       It affords an opportunity for the community to assess its own numbers.

·       It gives media a chance to report on the mood of the people, in description, photo, video, and participant interviews.

Daniel Hunter is a gifted community organizer, and his advice is quite clear: Do not call a demonstration to flex political muscles you do not have. Do not hold a demonstration until you can indeed demonstrate enough strength so that the deciders and influencers want to negotiate with you.

To Daniel's expert advice I would add that small gatherings, such as vigils, are different. Organizing such gatherings would not involve a media release, just outreach to known members of the community on a more private basis. These smaller gatherings are still demonstrations, but they give the organizers and the community a sense of the strength of views and commitment, and can help organizers adapt the message to try again, until some strength and clarity begins to show signs of potential power. 

At that point, organizers should have been working to build a coalition that can support a clear and unified message around a single issue, not a menu of issues. People will more likely show up around one commonly held idea, not a laundry list that may include one item that discourages a number of potential demonstrators and another item on the list that may alienate another grouping of potential participants. 

In short, wait until you can demonstrate true people power before notifying media and the deciders and influencers that you will hold that demonstration. Show that power and expect outreach in one form or another that is going to be an invitation to negotiate toward your goal.

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #12: Get angry, put it to work

How can anger possibly fit within a conflict transformational approach to participating in democracy? Seeing anarchists throwing bricks through plate glass windows or shooting commercial-grade fireworks at police is not a productive nor transformational method.

However, strategic nonviolence is frequently fueled by anger. Even prayerful religionists committed by their faith to nonviolence are often motivated by anger (Hauerwas, 2020). Rosa Parks said she was motivated by her outrage at what racists did to Emmet Till, and indeed, that 14-year-old boy was murdered in Mississippi in August 1955 and by December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks sat down on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and refused to give up her seat for a white man.

Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote about anger driving him and others to engage in robust, dangerous, bold nonviolent resistance. 

Mohandas Gandhi had the best metaphor, saying that anger was like steam--it could be held in until it exploded in destruction or it could be harnessed to do a great deal of positive work for freedom. 

If anger can move ignorant men and women to vote for Trump even as he gaslighted them endlessly, it also moved many to work against him. The anger exhibited by the insurance executive shooter, however, is exactly the wrong use of anger in a democracy. Rosa Parks and Dr. King got it right. But don't let anyone tell you that since you are angry you hurt democracy; that is demonstrably false when that anger can give you the spark to carry on with powerful nonviolent action.

References

Hauerwas, S. (2020). On God and Democracy: Engaging Bretherton’s Christ and the Common Life. Studies in Christian Ethics, 33(2), 235–242. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/10.1177/0953946819897173

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #11: Workplace democracy

Can you quit your job if you so choose? Can you organize with others to strike for better wages or conditions? Do you have a legal right to collective bargain? 

Promoting these values not necessarily in the political ecology of society but at least in your place of work is participating in workplace democracy, which is sometimes unrelated to societal political democracy and sometimes rightly and tightly linked to it. 

Some analysts are doctrinaire, with quotes like, 

I am claiming is that republicans, democrats, and co-travelers who affirm workplace democracy thereby commit themselves to socialism. Those workplace democrats cannot disembark the democratic train at workplace democracy; they must ride it to the very end, and that end is socialism. (Vrousalis, 2019, p. 259).

This unbending categorical definition is likely as useful to Marxists as it is to the forces intent on destroying Marxism; that is, not useful much to real world actors simply trying to bring more democracy to all arenas of life in order to serve all our enlightened self-interest. 

Conflict transformation is less rigid on all aspects of this component of participating in democracy--all aspects except the need to use best practices of conflict transformation in pursuing this activity and its many possible goals. 

Hence, evincing respect for all humans in the mix--all members or potential members of an employee union, all members of management, and all the shareholders or owners--is a core component of conflict transformation as it applies to participating in this form of democracy--economic democracy, possible at times even in a dictatorship. 

Workers' rights equals workplace democracy. Pushing for more of them or volunteering to be a union worker is participating in real life lived experience democracy.

References

Vrousalis, N. (2019). Workplace Democracy Implies Economic Democracy. Journal of Social Philosophy, 50(3), 259–279. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/10.1111/josp.12275

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #10: Direct ballot initiative

Half of the 50 US states allow citizens to write a petition to put a state constitutional amendment or a new state law on the next ballot, called a direct ballot initiative[1]. 

Any group of citizens can author these proposed laws in 14 states or constitutional amendments in 16 states and each state that allows it has a prescribed process that requires a petition to add the amendment or law to the ballot. That petition must be signed by a certain number or percentage of voters registered in that state within a period prescribed by that state.

If you are prepared to gather enough signatures, this is a workaround for citizens whose elected officials are not responsive to certain wishes of the majority of the registered voters. This is especially valuable when, for example, the state governor and legislative members may have been elected because they were perceived as being the most effective proponents of the voters' top priority, even though the voters had other priorities that the elected officials were not as strong in their endorsement. So, in a state with a governor and legislature that is meeting the voters' wishes on the state economy but who consistently fail to pass laws that curtail easy gun purchase even though voters want that, a ballot measure may succeed where the votes for officials did not.

Some states allow for a ballot veto, that is, a similar process that overturns a particular state statute passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor. This is also an additional potential corrective to an elected group of officials who are perceived as great on the voters' top priority but passed a law in another area that voters decide to strike from the books directly, effectively overruling the elected officials on a specific issue.

Whether it's a red state in which the voters buck the national views on women's reproductive rights or a blue state that decides to get tougher on street drugs, this power of direct democracy on the issues allows each state that permits it to create a more nuanced corpus of laws for themselves.

It also allows for citizens to come back to measures they initiated in previous cycles and "tune them up," as the new reality may prompt them to do. In Oregon, for example, one ballot measure practically legalized all drugs. The effects were quite negative--overdose deaths, increasing dereliction--and the voters then used a ballot measure to correct the most egregious aspects.

Like any modality of participating in democracy, it's more work than letting others decide for us, and each variable requires its own decision-making process. If we are willing and able to put in the work, we can participate more and more fully and effectively. Everyone has a bandwidth and thus everyone needs a personal set of priorities to do the work that matters to them.

---

[1] https://ballotpedia.org/Direct_initiative

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #9: Scaling up in centralized nation-states

Participating in democracy is easiest in many ways in countries that are more free with stronger metrics of democracy--while this sounds like a tautology, it bears mentioning. Local organizing can be whisked into a political trash bin when a local victory is rendered moot by centralized nation-states. In the US this has happened, for example, when municipalities and even states pass gun control measures by popular vote driven by strong community organizing only to have the federal courts sweep aside that decision by the citizens, citing the Republican-dominated Supreme Court interpretation of the Second Amendment. 

This has also happened when, for example, a state legislature passes a measure, signed by the governor, to boycott products from certain repressive countries--only to have US federal courts decide that such boycotts amount to state usurpation of federal power to make foreign policy. This is especially egregious when the laws are made by initiative and referendum--direct democracy reflecting the precise wishes of the electorate.

Key to overcoming at least some of the diktats of centralized nation-state authorities is momentum and the imposition of political cost on authoritarian conduct by federal officials. In other words, when local organizers can not only mobilize their own local citizenry but can devise ways to cause that organizing to spread quickly across much or all of the country, centralized power can prove too cumbersome to put out the local brush fire of opposition before it becomes viral, national. 

This is at least part of how Bulgarian anti-fracking organizers succeeded in achieving a scale-up of local victory into some national policy success (Mihaylov, 2021), imparting lessons for others in countries featuring increased autocratic trends. People power toward democracy can work best when it works fast, especially in countries lacking stronger metrics of democracy and freedom. 

References

Mihaylov, N. L. (2021). Speaking power to power: Grassroots democracy in the anti‐fracking movement in Bulgaria. Journal of Community Psychology, 49(8), 3054–3078. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/10.1002/jcop.22358

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #8: Grassroots collective action toward parallel institutions

Some scholars posit a tension between citizen action toward more democracy that relies on pressuring powerful people (official deciders and unofficial influencers) with grassroots collective action that creates parallel institutions promoting and practicing both democracy and social justice (e.g., Endo, 2024). For the purposes of this series of participating in democracy methods, it is helpful to separate them as Endo does. For the purposes of acting in the real world, it is important to realize that they are each more effective when coördinated in some fashion. 

Civil society parallel institutions date back virtually infinitely in human history, but in terms of strategic nonviolent grassroots change, one starting point might be Gandhi and his successor in the land reform movement in India, Vinoba Bhave. Their creation of semi-autonomous ashrams and other land reform unofficial institutions were documented by later scholars, including Gene Sharp (1973b). 

So, if you don't like how your local institutions are enforcing structural injustice, consider creating your own institution that might be able to operate to supplant all or part of that authority. For instance, imagine you live in a suburb where a local ordinance prohibits building raised beds, plowing up lawns to grow food and flowers, or other restrictions on your use of your own bit of land around your home. Fighting this as an individual is possible but doing so as a growing collective is far more effective in most cases. 

The Patriotic American Victory Garden Association, your imagined group, can simply begin supporting a combination of personal and community garden spaces, enlisting supportive local public and private school engagement as Victory Garden Learning Programs in schools at all levels. If it's done with enough momentum, there might be no resistance and no enforcement of the obnoxious local ordinance. If enforcement is attempted, civil resistance is effective if done with as much publicity and widespread action as possible. 

While there is no guarantee of success with any method of structural change, there are methods that do achieve that goal much more often than others. It's not a sure thing when change is sought, but using the most successful methods is the wise path. Collective action, done well, can be a way to participate in any level of democracy, or indeed to bring democracy into places where it is lacking. 

References

Endo, C. (2024). Structural Change Through “Collective Action as Democratic Practice”: Linking Grassroots Democracy with Social Justice. Political Studies, 72(4), 1354–1372. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/10.1177/00323217231182024

Sharp, Gene (1973b). The politics of nonviolent action: Part two. The methods of nonviolent action. Boston: Porter Sargent.

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #7: Meet with newspaper editorial board

The goal of developing a relationship with the editor of your local paper or the editorial board of it is to both promote the policies you believe enhance peace, justice, nonviolence, and democracy, but also to hold them accountable. You want them to think about you when they make the many decisions the editor makes--assigning stories, writing editorials, endorsing candidates, etc. 

Be prepared for the meeting. Surprise the editor by asking more questions than making argumentative pitches for your ideas. Know the content of the paper, past endorsements, and arrive with questions, not debate points.

·       Thank you for meeting with me. I'm a loyal reader and thank you for practicing the grand American tradition of a free press. I'm here for my own knowledge but also as a member of (e.g., Peace Action, Greenpeace, Rotary, County Democrats) and they are also curious about your thinking on some topics. Can you please help me understand, for starters, why you endorsed the Republican candidate for US Senate last year?

Then practice reflective listening, in which you ask clarifying questions, not debate answers. Draw out the editorial board, don't alienate them. Really listen. Then seek to understand and learn more. This is not easy for many activists, most of whom have talking points more than a listening strategy.

·       OK, thanks. What I am hearing--and please correct me if I'm wrong--is that you weighed the evidence you had and overall felt like that candidate would accomplish more for the citizens of our state, our town, and, of course, your readership?

Even if you never come to the point where you begin your own talking points, you are now in relationship, something that will serve you and the groups or campaigns with which you are associated very well. 

At times it's valuable to bring representatives from groups you believe need credibility to the editors. For instance, a local teacher when the editor has been gatekeeping against teachers who promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. In other words, when stories about such debates only feature school administrators who are eliminating DEI and experts who oppose DEI or present a preponderance of evidence purporting to highlight the problems of militant, calling out, extreme DEI, that is gatekeeping that might tend to skew the views of readers who need exposure to the most compelling analysis from all legitimate sides. The teacher you bring along--hopefully after you've established that relationship with the editor--can help explain the need for the editor to monitor the gatekeeping each reporter does for fairness and in the interest of the community's knowledge base.

At times you may wish to contact the editorial board and openly explain that you and representatives from four groups want to lobby them. This sets a different framework and being transparent ahead of time eliminates the anger and defensiveness that can quickly arise if the editor or editorial board feels ambushed and attacked. Prep your folks by stressing that you have a relationship, that you don't want to endanger that by calling out behavior, but that the board understands they will be lobbied. Moderate the meeting with rigor and, when necessary, vigor. 

·       Thanks to the Chair of the Eastside Democrats. Let's give our friendly editor a chance to practice her profession by seeking information from us. 

In other words, take the microphone from the person either talking too long, too often, or with accusatory language, and hand that mic back to the editor with a nod toward her craft, her skills, and her responsibilities. 

Try to avoid being the person the editor wants to avoid and instead be the person the editor gets back to quickly when you leave a friendly message. You do actually want the editor to visualize your response, your take on an issue as the editor writes the op-ed, endorses a candidate or a yes/no on a ballot measure, or assigns a sensitive story to a reporter (and edits that story later).

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #6: Lobby your representative

Reach out to those who represent you at every level of our democracy. It's relatively easier, of course, in most cases to get an audience with a local official than a statewide officeholder and harder still to personally meet up with a federal elected official. But it's always doable, with planning. 

There are many paths to lobbying. In-person is the very best, letters or emails or phone calls are a bit less effective, but staffers compile counts on issues for and against. 

Stick to one issue per lobbying trip, letter, phone call, or email. Be clear on what you want your representative to do about that issue. "Vote against Senate Bill 437," for example. Give factual, documentable evidence, and keep it relatively brief.

You never know when a lobbying moment may materialize. The mayor is having lunch where you are too. Keep it civil; everyone deserves a private life, and it is poor form to lobby someone entertaining their children or taking their elderly grandmother to dinner. Lobbying in the halls of government buildings is different. They are at work and if you walk with them you may be able to have a brief moment. Have an "elevator pitch"--and not one that requires a stop at each of 54 floors to complete. That pitch may happen in the space of a 90-foot walk down a hall, or even on an actual elevator. Again, civility is crucial. Yelling, name-calling, identity slurs, and ad hominem attacks are ineffective; they make you look bad and they make your side of the issue look nasty and unattractive. 

If you are lobbying your representative and you don't know how they might vote, ask before you accuse. If they are going to vote your way, consider asking how you can help.

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #5: Testify at public hearings

It was a nice fall day. I drove my little Geo Metro to a public hearing in northeastern Minnesota from my little home on a few acres in northern Wisconsin. I intended to testify at a public hearing over the issue of building a golf course on land that was near the Fond du Lac Anishinaabe reservation. 

As a single man from a monochronic culture (we tend to be on time), I arrived early, and signed up to offer public testimony. Within 20 minutes another 40 or more had arrived and signed up.

I was number three on the list of citizens to testify before the zoning board of the county in question. 

Halfway through the second citizen an Anishinaabe elder entered surrounded and accompanied by four young men from her tribe. She signed up, probably number 45 or so. I know enough about public hearings to predict that it would be likely that by the 45th testimony the committee members would be up there balancing their checkbooks, doodling ideas for Christmas vacation, and just generally unplugged. I hustled up to the tribal elder and asked her if she would like to switch places with me so she could testify while the media were there and the commissioners were paying attention. She nodded and smiled.

I went to the registration table and told them of the switch.

The commissioners called on me. I explained that I had traded places with someone who was a more important stakeholder than I and she delivered her testimony, explaining that the proposed golf course could not be built because it was on a place sacred to her people. "Why do you think it's called Spirit Mountain?" she asked. "We named it. We visit it. It is right next to our reservation. Our connection to it goes way back, long before white people came here." 

The testimony went on and on, as attention flagged and minutia mounted. Finally, I got my moment and simply said, "Commissioners, I understand you have decided this is your final hearing. You neglected to involve or consult with the tribe and you've just heard from them earlier today. You clearly believe from the way you talk that this is a done deal, that the golf course is a fait accompli. Well, I teach and write in the field of Nonviolent Conflict Transformation and I'm about to move to Oregon to continue doing that there, but my message to you is, 'This is not over at all.'"

I moved. After a year, I checked back with some tribal friends. They still had an encampment on Spirit Mountain and the golf course was still a proposal but with a much dimmer future, likely just a corporate chimera. Understanding determination, resilience, resistance, and cultural priorities is key to understanding a great deal of public policy.

There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #4: Student nonviolent direct action

When activists decide to enroll in school, they frequently find they no longer have time for activism, which can be especially ironic when one reason some students begin formal studies is to become more effective activists, and possibly to become paid professional community organizers.

A recent study in the UK suggests that ways to offer academic credit for student organizing can produce community-based engaged participation in democracy, with deeper knowledge gained by the groundtruthing of student-organized nonviolent direct action (Jarvis, 2024).

This is not without risk. If a supervising professor has little life experience in this andragogical endeavor, it can backfire. If there is no supervising professor, it is just as chancy. Ideally, community partners capable of closely and professionally mentoring students in this can avoid the severe costs that some ill-informed direct action can produce--ranging from citations, arrests, incarceration, large fines, and physical harm. 

If, however, students are mentored by community partners with outstanding track records, well designed strategic nonviolent campaigns, and care to manage risks, a student can become a powerful and experienced community organizer over time, and can add any successes to their c.v. 

This can be amplified if a student who is working on public policy issues forms bonds with public officials in the context of one or more campaigns. The student who understands the professional need for deep respect for the humanity of everyone, and who is taught to use best conflict transformation practices while organizing for that public policy change (or protection of a public policy that is being threatened), will emerge with a toolkit that will indeed be a powerful way to participate in democracy.

References

Jarvis, H. (2024). Community organising in higher education: activist community-engaged learning in geography. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 48(3), 368–388. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/10.1080/03098265.2023.2250996

There must be 50 ways--Participating in democracy #3: Adult education

Across the country (all countries) there is a background rate of adults who seemingly never learned basic civic education: who decides what policy, who funds which projects, how to engage in democracy as a citizen, and much more. Educating adults on any or all of these aspects of a robust democracy is a way to both participate in and assist others to participate in democracy. One study shows that it helps citizens envision a more sustainable, participatory democracy (Barcinas & Fleener, 2023).

Perhaps you post helper hints on social media. Or host an annual "ranked choice voting explainer" brunch. Reach out to see if a labor union is open to you dropping off "How our democracy works" leaflets. Any path toward andragogy (adult education) in civics basics is another method of participating in democracy. 

References

Barcinas, S. J., & Fleener, M. J. (2023). Adult Education, Futures Literacy, and Deep Democracy: Engaging Democratic Visioning and Anticipatory Futures for More Sustainable Futures. Adult Learning, 34(3), 131–141. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/10.1177/10451595231166726

There must be 50 ways (#2)

 Participating in democracy #2: Letters to the editor

Writing a letter to the editor seems like an insignificant blip in the sweep of millions of people going about their business in a large country that is, at least for the time being, a democracy. It used to involve a piece of paper, an envelope, a stamp, and a bit of time to dash off one's thinking du jure.

Nonetheless, it matters. It's even more democratic than voting, in the sense that many who cannot vote can still write a letter to the editor. I know I've done exactly that, many times, when incarcerated for my anti-nuclear nonviolent resistance. 

Children too young to vote can write a letter to the editor. Refugees, asylees, people on Temporary Protected Status from countries too dangerous to return to, and others with some block on their ability to vote can still write a letter to the editor. Those letters can influence those who do have the right to vote. A child in Sweden can write a letter to the editor in some American city and influence American voters to take a stronger position on stopping climate chaos.

Some newspapers keep a count, by topic, of their letters to the editor, and, at the end of the week, post a note on their op-ed page describing how many letters came in that week on, for instance, banning assault rifles, and how many were for or against. In this way, letters to the editor act almost as a straw poll on hot-button issues, prompting elected officials to notice, to assign staff to research it, and to refine their positions. 

A great explainer[1] and how-to on letters to the editor is available via Indivisible, a US nationwide organization dedicated to bringing citizens into our democracy. They help us craft powerful letters to the editor that stand a better chance of getting published and getting noticed by powerful people, influencers, and our fellow citizens.

---

[1] https://indivisible.org/resource-library/how-write-letters-editor-really-get-attention