Leading local communities to demand better

The Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability's "deliberative town halls" pair willing lawmakers with a random, representative sample of constituents so voters can share feedback and ask questions without being drowned out by the loudest voices in political spaces. All participants are given the same background materials created by a nonpartisan source to inform their discussion, which means there's no squabbling over establishing basic facts, and politicians must adapt to the natural flow of conversation rather than relying on canned talking points.

In an effort to fight government corruption, an initiative called Tracka monitors public spending allocations and holds town hall meetings in communities across Nigeria to educate residents about the budgeting process. The organization has engaged 967 communities and helped hold officials accountable for projects that were funded but never completed, such as an electricity substation in Kawu.

When New York legislators abolished a state law that had long shielded police officers’ disciplinary records from public scrutiny, they were not just responding to recent protests but also to activism over many years by reform advocates and families of victims of police violence. Long-running legal challenges had failed to pry the records loose. But activists – opposed by police unions and their allies – had used public testimony, publicity, and their families’ stories to lay the groundwork for changes that then came quickly after George Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests of police brutality.

Ahmed Albasheer is an Iraqi journalist who uses a combination of humor and grassroots organizing to teach youth in Iraq and across the world about their government's corruption with his show, "The Albasheer Show.” He has been compared to Jon Stewart in how his weekly series airing on YouTube and satellite television engages young people through his comedic timing and straight-forward manner of speaking. As a result, protests have erupted, and the government has killed protesters in response, but Albasheer continues to boost morale and amplify their voices in solidarity.

Grassroots movements made up of ordinary citizens can go a long way in creating change. This article details several initiatives across Ohio that were led by citizens using a combination of lobbying, education, persistence, knowledge of government practices, and organization. Some things that were achieved using these methods are wage reimbursements and increased bus access.

One way that any ordinary citizen can lend a hand to the plight of those caught in the American immigration system is by being a court observer: someone who sits in immigration court and takes notes by hand. Several organizations are working to develop a standardized way of evaluating judges' treatment of migrants to put it in a central database so that the data can be used to evaluate the human impact by the system as a whole. People who participate testify to the job alleviating despair over the situation as they can mitigate any unfair practices going unnoticed.

Los presupuestos participativos son un mecanismo de democracia directa que permite a los residentes de una comunidad decidir cómo se invierte una porción del presupuesto público municipal. Originado en Porto Alegre, Brasil, en 1989, este modelo llegó a Estados Unidos en 2009 cuando Chicago se convirtió en la primera ciudad estadounidense en implementarlo.

For the past year, community organizers in Baltimore have been going door to door to share Know Your Rights materials, as well as hosting trainings to help residents get involved in rapid responses against ICE operations in the city. Hundreds of people have been trained so far and the effort has led to the formation of about a dozen community-based ICE watch groups.

After Michiganders approved a constitutional amendment allowing residents to vote early in federal and statewide elections, municipal clerks reported that the state’s first test of early voting in November 2023 was a success with nearly 4,600 people casting ballots.

Residents who participated in Michigan’s first year of early in-person voting say they appreciated the shorter lines, the convenience to vote on their own schedules, and the ability to feed their ballots into polling place tabulators themselves. Nearly 4,600 voters cast their ballots early in-person across the state.