Uganda's Corruption Comes Home to Roost

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.

The Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies provides a "blueprint" for peaceful and democratic revolution, busting myths about the process of nonviolent revolt and helping dissidents in countries around the world to accomplish political goals, such as fighting corruption or protecting the environment.

Paris has implemented the world's largest participatory budgeting program, allowing any resident aged 7 and older to propose and vote on city projects funded by municipal money. Since 2014, the city has allocated 5% of its total budget and has implemented 1,345 citizen-proposed projects over the past 10 years, including rooftop farms, community centers, and infrastructure for homeless residents. In addition, research shows areas with participatory budgeting see greater trust in local leadership and higher rates of civic engagement.

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.

After decentralized protests in Sudan successfully ousted a 30-year dictatorship, nonviolent civic action in the country continues to grow, with highly localized demonstrations calling for everything from greater security against cattle theft to the resignation of corrupt public officials. The protests have been fueled by better exposure via social media, more collaboration among activist groups, and the proliferation of neighborhood-level "resistance committees" that grew out of the movement to topple the dictatorship in 2018 and 2019.

Step Up Nigeria’s "Catch Them Young Initiative" uses children’s storybooks and animated films to teach school children how to become anti-corruption ambassadors. The books, which have recently been adapted to animated films, address the dangers of corrupt practices like vote-buying and bribery. The organization not only distributes the books and films, but also trains teachers to give the lessons. Over 250 teachers have been trained and at least 20,000 children have received anti-corruption education materials.

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.

In the city of Leeds, England, a group of randomly selected demographically representative citizens came together to solve the climate crisis. This group of twenty-one strangers formed the Leeds Climate Citizens' Jury, which is a smaller version of the better-known Citizen's Assembly. Over the course of several weeks, the members of the assembly or jury learn about and discuss how to tackle a certain political problem, like climate change. Similar assemblies have formed in Ireland, Australia, and Poland to tackle political problems like abortion and nuclear storage.

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.

To prevent politicians from drawing districts to further their best interests, some areas in the state have independent and bipartisan citizen commissions that draw the boundaries for congressional, legislative and local government seats, as well as school districts. Areas with independent redistricting see districts that are more representative of the communities they serve, as well as higher levels of public participation and less gerrymandering.