CivicSolve

For about two years, CivicSolve has been working with the Children's Disability Information Coalition out of El Paso. We began with civic engagement training, moved to planning a civic action and have brought everything together with a proclamation from the City of El Paso, honoring Disability Employment Awareness Month (which is in October) and the city winning a grant to create paid internships with the city for some of the young people who took part in our work together. For some of the people, it will be the first paid opportunity to work that they've ever had.

Being with them as they got to speak directly with the El Paso City Council and having an opportunity to speak myself, really hit home just how far the group had come from not being sure how many would even participate in the civic engagement training to wondering if they would ever say something during the training to watching them publicly stand up for their full humanity as El Paso citizens.

I created CivicSolve in 2013 to help connect communities with their own power and resources to build community through civic engagement. Moments like this is why I do the work. If you're looking to empower your community, check out http://www.civicsolve.com and see how partnering with CivicSolve can help you do more.

Civic Meditation 12523: 10 Ways to Be a Better Citizen

As we reach 2023’s end, I find myself in reflection about what has been, what is now, and what could be. Many anticipate 2024 as a pivotal year for the direction of democracy in the United States, but the direction and health of democracy all over the world. While the direction of democracy is a lot to consider, in the end, there is only so much that we can do about that. That being the case, I choose to look at what we as every day citizens can affect and control when it comes to the direction of democracy.

I did some research and found a wonderful list from the Brookings Institute of what they call the Democracy 76 Checklist. 76 things that active (or aspiring to become active) citizens can do to improve democracy, see list here: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-bucket-list-for-involved-citizens-76-things-you-can-do-to-boost-civic-engagement/

For the purposes of this civic meditation, I am going to offer my list of top selections from the Democracy 76 and call it the Civic 10. The Democracy 76 is split up in five categories, so I’m picking my top two from each category to give you a wide range of ways to put your mark on democracy and grow as a citizen, because democracy can only grow as we, the stewards of democracy, grow. I would highly recommend you take a look at Brookings’ full list (as it will include helpful links to activities on this list). Every great journey begins with a first step, and I hope you’ll let my Civic 10 help you put your best first foot forward.

This will be my last civic meditation of 2023 as I prepare to spend time with friends, family and gear up for what will surely be a very civically full 2024. I hope the holiday season gives you plenty to be thankful, reflective and hopeful about and until 2024, be well.

Cornell’s Civic 10

1. Host a Purple Conversation with family, friends, or in your school or community to discuss ways to foster civic engagement. Use the tips on facilitating open dialogue from Living Room Conversations.
2. Use your social media accounts to post uplifting information relevant to making our society more civil. The University of Virginia has a helpful guide on civil discourse when talking about politics.
3. Advocate for civic education in schools. Not all states require it, and you can join the CivXNow campaign to push for it.
4. Get involved with the local school board. The National School Boards Association has good tips on how to engage.
5. Volunteer to work at a polling place. To find out how, go to the Election Assistance Commission’s website or contact your local registrar.
6. Make a voting pact with your friends or family. Collectively commit to register and vote. Remind each other regularly. Make a plan to go to the polls together!
7. Read and subscribe to daily local, regional, or national newspapers. Check out Allsides.com for news from conservative, liberal, and centrist points of view.
8. Deep dive into the constitution. The National Constitution Center has an interactive line-by-line breakdown.
9. Volunteer to serve as an officer or member of a group in your community. Volunteer Match can help you connect to groups in your area.
10. Support the teachers at your local school. Ask how you can help and consider starting with supporting classroom projects through DonorsChoose.org.

The bucket list for involved citizens: 76 things you can do to boost civic engagement | Brookings Rebecca Winthrop and Meg Huebeck outline a “Democracy 76” list to provide specific and practical actions that we all can take to be an involved citizen.

Civic Meditation 111323: Next Level Democracy

I’ve spent most of my civic meditations focusing on everything from citizenship as rebellion to unlocking democracy 30 minutes at a time. All of this has been with a focus on engagement and democracy, because I believe as former Great Britain Prime Minister, Winston Churchill famously said,

“No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

I am a champion of democracy because it’s the best we have…for now. I champion civic engagement because civic engagement gives us opportunities to unlock our potential as humans and as citizens and practicing such engagement benefits us both individually and collectively. But what exists beyond our current form of democracy? What’s next? As Churchill said, “…except for all other forms that have been tried from time to time.” In the grand scheme of societal systems, democracy is relatively new and untested.

The United States has the longest lasting democracy in the history of the world at 236 years (1787 [ratification of the constitution] – 2023), outpacing Norway (started in 1814) by 27 years and the Netherlands (started in 1815) by 26 years. Earth is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old, and democracy, beginning in Athens in 805 BCE, is only 2531 years old. So, to say that the experiment of democracy is young, would be a severe understatement. That’s the bad news. Here's the good news, young things still have a chance to grow into phenomenal things that are different in all the right ways, than their younger version.

As the world’s longest, continuous democracy, it is on the U.S. to innovate and push democracy to its next level of development. I’ve already mentioned, the most recent innovation to U.S. democracy, Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), which asks voters to rank their candidates, making run-off elections obsolete and gives candidates incentive to have substantive campaigns that attract voters instead of politically violent campaigns that detract voters. Most innovation like RCV, motor voter, same day registration, tend to be on the technical, election side of democracy, but what about the education and engagement piece?

What if civic engagement was tax deductible? A more civically engaged community will provide community benefits including economically, so why not give it economic value? What if we treated domestic civic service in a similar way as we do military service? People could be recruited into civic service, commit to a length of service, be trained and taken care of, and receive similar benefits and opportunities for growth and advancement?

Democracy is still very much a child in the world and will only grow up if we challenge its boundaries and encourage development. It’s time that we let democracy grow up and it’s time that we grow up as citizens.