Democracy

Governmentof the peopleby the peoplefor the people

Looks like democracy is all about

“the people”

Politics in Democracy What if

“the people” disagree among

themselves

?

3

What is Political Action?A Working Definition. . .

Political Action is any action taken for the purpose of

influencing what or how things are done within some “social

system”.

Political Action ProjectHCOM 266

An Exercise inExperiential Learning

Political Action Project

The Group Process

GradedProduct

Some PreviousPolitical Project Teams

Do you want to do group pix?

HCOM 266

The Political Action Project

Selecting the

Issueon which your group

will focus.

Shrinking an Issueto Fit Your Group Situation

• You have 4 people

• You have about a 6 wks

• You have no money

You can’t change

the world,

but you can make a small positive differenc

e.

Zeroing In On Your Issue

Some General Areas✔

Specific Area: The Environment

✔

More Specific

✔

Beach Litter

Setting an Achievable Objective

Objective

To improve the qualityof Del Monte Beach

Del MonteBeach

Clean up Del Monte Beach

Political Action Strategies

Research Your

Issu

e

• Historical Background: Every issue has a past that is relevant to understanding the issue in its present form; no issue just springs to life from nowhere.

• Alternative Courses of Action: Something is an “issue” when people disagree about what should be done. You need to understand the alternative courses of action that are being proposed or considered or acted out relative to your particular issue.

• Major Actors: On any issue, certain organizations and individuals emerge as the leading advocates for the alternative courses of action being proposed. You need to learn about these major actors, their arguments, their political strategies, and the interests that they represent.

• Your Advocacy: Your job is to persuade people to support your position; it is not to treat all positions equally. You must locate, develop, and advance the strongest argumnts you can.

• Know the Details: Who or how will your issue be decided? Is there some deadline? Is cost an important dimension? Other?

16

How Can We Engage in Politics?

One Type of Political Action is

Public Education

Inform & persudea particular publicabout your issue

When planning political actions,

Questions to Ask• What is the goal or objective that we want to

achieve?• How will this action contribute to our specific

goal?• How many people is this action likely to impact?• How powerful or significant is the impact likely to

be?• How will we measure / determine / estimate

our success?

Reflectio

n Question

s

☛ How thoroughly did we come to understand the details of our issue? Where was our knowledge strong, and where was it rather weak?

☛ Did we establish good, reasonable, and manageable objectives?☛ Did we develop a written work plan, and how helpful was it?☛ Which of our action strategies worked well, and which did not go as we

had planned? Why?☛ As we interacted with the public, which of our arguments seemed

persuasive and which seemed rather weak?☛ How well did we use the time we had to carry out this project? ☛ How effectively did we function as a group? What did we learn about

the benefits and challenges of collective planning and action?☛ What would we do differently if we were to do this project again?☛ How “effective” was our project? How much impact did we have on

our objectives?☛ What are the primary lessons we learned from this political action

project?

Histories of Democracy

Political Project

Multimedia Presentation

Okay, Time to Get To Work…

Today’s Tasks• Form Teams• Exchange contact information• Agree on a general issue to address• Run the issue past me• Give each team member a specific research

assignment to be completed by Oct. 28

Assignment on 10-07

No Assignment

See you Wednesday