Please describe "Grassroots Democracy"

[Angela Shelley]

The term "grassroots democracy" is used quite frequently in DU threads.

What´s your definition of "grassroots democracy"?

[flashl]

1. Participatory democracy.

[Angela Shelley]

2. "Participatory" as in

1) all citizens "are allowed to participate"?

2) all citizens "are forced to participate"?

3) all citizens "are encouraged to participate"?

4) all citizens "get a thrill when they participate"?

[flashl]

3. all citizens "get a thrill when they participate"

Selling the candidate to the unwashed masses, retail politics, is simply worn out.

Political candidates allegedly need hundreds of millions to reach the voter with some “message” that will motivate the voter.

This wouldn’t be necessary if citizens weren’t conditioned to believe that they have a duty to be involved in politics only during the ramp-up to elections.

And, in reality, most public policy decisions are made without the citizen's input.

/end rambling

[Angela Shelley]

7. Can "we, the people" change this reality?

I´m not talking about "meditating" for a change, I mean "acting for change".

[flashl]

11. Of course, we have examples such as

MoveOn, CodePink, Veterans for Peace, California Nurses Foundation, CREW, the blogsphere, etc.

[Angela Shelley]

22. Hi flashl, is "boycotting" part of grassroots democracy?

[flashl]

24. If they were effective???

IMO, corporations have insulated themselves from the effects of boycotts because we no longer have a “free market”. If we boycott today, it seems it only means we will spend twice a much in a few days.

[Angela Shelley]

25. As an optimist, I choose to disagree

and there is a little bit more at my thread ... maybe you´ve read it already :-)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2446068

[flashl]

29. What comes to mind is walmart

its tax breaks and other giveaways by local officals drain revenues. Walmart in turn, literally stop the circulation of money in a community.

When walmart enters a community, small businesses, at one time the largest employer, disappear. Thus, removing consumers "choice" for quality option.

walmart's union busting behavior should have everyone in an uproar, but, to my dismay, walmart employees and their families are some of its strongest advocates.

Poor city/county/local planning almost remove the "option" to walk.

After saying all of that, I guess to really know how to handle all of this each community needs their own Catherine Fitts.

[Angela Shelley]

30. I´ll have to look that one up

I don´t know the details behind "Catherine Fitts".

[flashl]

33. She writes and talks about:

Tapeworm economy: In a tapeworm economy a small group of insiders centralize political and economic power at the expense of people, living things and the environment, in a manner that destroys real wealth. A tapeworm economy is one in which it is considered acceptable to make money from our popsicle index going down. In investment terms, it is an economy with a negative return on investment. It is parasitic in nature.


Popsicle Index: To help people understand how the global financial system affects their neighborhood, I came up with a very simple quality of life index based on one question:

What percentage of the people in your place believes that a child can go to the nearest place to buy a popsicle or other treat, and return home alone safely?

And. reversing the negative economy into a positive economy, one person, one family, and one community at a time.

[Angela Shelley]

34. Thanks for the "defining message"

we´ll have to meet at the corner for a popsicle sometime :-)

[flashl]

36. You bet, I love popsicles.

[Angela Shelley]

37. First, I should ask ...

what´s the popsicle index in your community.

We don´t want to take any chances, do we?

[flashl]

39. Judging from Halloween conservative answer is 80% (prob higher)

[Angela Shelley]

40. I´m at 99%, we should meet here, but I won´t tell you where I live,

because there would be a mass migration to my little place on the planet.

[flashl]

41. Smart move.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. When individual citizens voluntarily get involved

in the political process. An example from 2004--our local Democratic Committee would not endorse Kerry for President and refused to spend money on ads, helping to get folks to the polls, etc. A group of independent voters, not affiliated with any party, but united in getting rid of the neocons, decided that Kerry was the best way to get rid of Bush. They held rallies, teach-ins, and paid for pro-Kerry ads; their members wrote LTTE and offered free rides to the polls. That's grassroots democracy at work. Let's hope this next year we'll have a winner to get behind.

[Angela Shelley]

5. Is "grassroots" strictly limited to national elections?

[tekisui]

13. Not at all.

It is strictly local. What effects the local people. THey are the only ones that matter in grassroots. The local populations need to be informed and encouraged to vote for those who support them, at each level of government. From city/county council to President.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

27. We've invited local officials to meetings

and information rallies, and you can bet your bottom dollar they come. They know that the folks who come to these are the ones who will vote and will get out the vote for them--or work to unseat them if they don't at least listen to what they have to say. Smart politicians are, at the very minimum, polite to groups like these.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

26. Nope

We have an active environmental group that has demonstrated and done citizen's lobbying for environmental causes that effect our local area. And there is another group that lobbies for the poor, minorities, etc, etc. Our local elected representative and senator know these groups and tends to go to meetings with them, for they know that the members are people who will vote and encourage others to vote.

[Angela Shelley]

28. Thanks for the good news, ayeshahaqqiqa

(aren´t you amazed that I spelled that right?)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

32. Yes

you get sixteen brownie points!!!!!! :D

[Angela Shelley]

35. And what can I buy with 16 brownie points?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

38. good karma n/t

[tekisui]

6. It is a redundant, but necessary term.

Democracy is and should be grassroots.

Our democracy has been hijacked by big business, big lobby and politicians willing to be bought.

In a healthy democracy, the power comes from the collective people at a local level, and builds up to Our representatives.

[bemildred]

8. Exactly. Bottom-up politics. nt

[Angela Shelley]

10. Please offer an example of bottom-up politics.

[OzarkDem]

15. It's when Dems who are active at the local level

collaborate with each other and take action to recruit and elect candidates who they feel are best qualified to represent their views and implement their agenda.

Grassroots politics involves taking local action, reaching out to voters in systematic fashion to choose and support candidates for office. Its done through a number of ways, from helping raise funds to GOTV, voter registration drives, and recruiting new members to grassroots organizations, to meeting to screen candidates. It can also be used in the opposite - taking local action to oppose candidates or replace them in elected office.

Its a means of organizing on the local and regional level to advance the party's agenda and hold elected officials accountable to voters .

Grassroots politics differs in that its an open process that empowers people at the local level to participate in the political process, as opposed to top-down politics where candidates are recruited and decisions are made behind "closed doors" by a select group of party leaders.

Example: My county party executive committee is meeting soon to screen and endorse candidates for public office. The candidates who win endorsement get to benefit from the votes, GOTV efforts and fundraising of local Dems. Several of the people have sent me letters or called me asking for my vote in the endorsement process. Any Democrat who got enough signatures on their petition were free to run for office and the process by which they will be endorsed is open. Top down politics is when the deck is stacked, when leaders choose candidates in secret and eliminate competition in advance.


Did I pass? :-)

[Angela Shelley]

17. Great answer, OzarkDem. You even get a stickerstar

for your forehead :-)

Please bear with my questions, I´m truly interested in making progress.

Does "grassroots democracy" only entail activities within the political process of electing candidates?

For example: If 1000 Citibank customers in Oklahoma City decided to close their accounts on one morning, in order to show their disgust in Citibank´s banking policies, is that "grassroots democracy", or is that "grassroots consumer democracy"?

[bemildred]

21. Joining your local Democratic County Committee,

or Democratic club, and going to the Democratic
State Convention, working to elect committed progressive
candidates in state and federal elections, or being
one yourself. Putting Howard Dean in as DNC chair.
Resisting manipulation and authoritarian behavior
from our elected representatives.

[Angela Shelley]

9. Let´s say "our democracy is ill"

and we want it to be healthy again.

What can we do?

[tekisui]

12. We need active "grassroots" campaigns to reach disenfranchised voters.

We need to find ways to get the average working-tv-watcher to pay attention. At least SOME attention. We need to help them understand that this stuff matters. Policies effect them. Those that shape the policies need to realize that there is a lot of America who are never reached.

We have the lowest voter turn-out of any democracy. Why? Those seeking votes can't afford to talk to average Americans. They are forced to spend their time at fundraisers. Until we get comprehensive campaign finance reform, public financing, it MUST be grassroots.

Grassroots programs have to get creative in their efforts to engage those who have never paid attention to politics. It is local. What are the problems and struggles of individual communities? What challenges and hardships do respective towns face? Answer those questions on a local level to see who needs the attention.

If it lack of funding for education, draw attention through that, rather than a candidate. Or crime, or the toll of war, or job creation, or environmental protections, or racism.

The thing is, I believe that Progressives are right on all of the issues that "local populations" face. And, you will only find Progressives in the Democratic Party. If we can focus on the things that actually matter to people, they will vote for themselves. They will choose at their benefit.

[Angela Shelley]

14. Thanks tekisui ... now another "chicken/egg" question ...

please bear with me.

Should we work on the "public financing" of campaigns
or
should we work on "attracting voter turnout"

Edited:
My vote is for "attracting voter turnout"

Are you with me?

[OzarkDem]

16. Both

Those aren't mutually exclusive goals.

[Angela Shelley]

19. Do you consider DU as being "grassroots"?

[tekisui]

20. Absolutely.

Networking and hashing out the issues strengthens Our democracy. All on this board can take what they have learned or discussed here into their community and spread it with the other grassroots efforts in tandem.

[tekisui]

18. Voter turn-out now.

But, both, really.

We need to work on getting elected those that will be receptive to the voters and to campaign finance reform. Some Democrats are trying to fix the campaigning. It will take a while to pry lobby's rich hands off of Our government. It has to come from us, through our elected reprentatives.

GET OUT THE VOTE!!!

[Angela Shelley]

23. Hi tekisui, is "boycotting" a form of grassroots democracy?

[tekisui]

42. I think so. Activism is Democracy is Grassroots.

[Angela Shelley]

"Your Consumer Power", more at the thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2446068

[Angela Shelley]

31. "Your Consumer Power", more at the thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2446068

[Blaze Diem]

43. When the peasants rise up against the gov.

Why Bush wants martial law, & needs Blackwater.