{"id":19147,"date":"2017-10-23T13:28:32","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T17:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/?p=19147"},"modified":"2017-10-23T13:30:19","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T17:30:19","slug":"building-civic-capacity-in-an-era-of-democratic-crisis-by-hollie-russon-gilman-and-k-sabeel-rahman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/?p=19147","title":{"rendered":"Building Civic Capacity in an Era of Democratic Crisis by Hollie Russon-Gilman\u00a0and\u00a0K. Sabeel Rahman"},"content":{"rendered":"

About $3 billion<\/a> was contributed to influence 2016 federal campaigns. In a new paper entitled “Building Civic Capacity in an Era of Democratic Crisis<\/a>,” Hollie Russon-Gilman<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0K. Sabeel Rahman<\/a>\u00a0suggest a much better way to spend some of that money.<\/p>\n

I realize, by the way, that political donors want candidates to notice their support. It would nevertheless make all the difference if they gave one percent<\/em> of their $3 billion to activities that strengthen democracy–compensating for irradiating the body politic with polarizing and demoralizing messages. Progressive donors would also build the base for more progressive policy by investing for the longer term.<\/p>\n

Russon-Gilman\u00a0and\u00a0Rahman argue “that today\u2019s populist moment emphasizes the need to create a genuinely responsive, participatory form of democratic politics in which communities are empowered, rather than alienated.” They advocate investments that “self-consciously strive to build constituencies and identities that are more inclusive and accommodating. Think of this as ‘us’ populism, as opposed to ‘them’ populism.”<\/p>\n

That basic stance supports two strategies:<\/p>\n

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  1. More investment in community organizing, especially the types that build “new bridges across racial, gender, and geographic divides.” Russon-Gilman and Rahman advocate broad-based, long-term organizing instead of mobilizing people around specific issues.<\/li>\n
  2. “Reforming our institutions of governance” so that agencies offer citizens more “hooks and levers” to influence power, and so that public sector workers have skills and incentives to engage the public better.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These strategies imply (as the authors note) a broad understanding of democracy. It is not all about elections, nor even about the official government. It’s about how people come together and exercise power.<\/p>\n

    The paper offers valuable case studies. For instance, under the heading of organizing<\/em>:<\/p>\n