How to Practice Participatory Democracy in Electoral Campaigns

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Election campaigns are a huge part of democracy, but they’re generally not very democratic. Typically, a candidate and their campaign staff decide the campaign platforms and practices. Then, if they win, they carry that top down approach into government. The candidate may win, but it’s a loss for democracy.

Integrating participatory democracy into campaigns can help everyday people be in charge of political campaigns. It can build our skills for participatory governance and identify and train new candidates who believe in open and participatory politics. 

Last month the People Powered community learned about two programs leading the way on participatory democracy in electoral campaigns: ‘’Ocupar la Poítica’’ [Occupy Politics] a program of Extituto de Política Abierta, an organization leading democratic innovations in Colombia, and ‘’WV Can’t Wait,’’ a movement in the US state of West Virginia that has built the largest electoral organizing infrastructure in the state in decades, with a focus on enabling community members to decide policies and write laws. 

Aluna Serrano Barrera from Extituto de Política Abierta and Stephen Smith from WV Can’t Wait sharing their experiences during the learning workshop Participatory Democracy in Campaigns.

Aluna Serrano Barrera from Extituto de Política Abierta and Stephen Smith from WV Can’t Wait sharing their experiences during the learning workshop Participatory Democracy in Campaigns.

Aluna Serrano, Political Innovation Coordinator of Extituto, and Stephen Smith, candidate for governor and founder of WV Can’t Wait, shared their experiences, and People Powered member organizations discussed how to apply these approaches elsewhere. 

If you want to participate in these discussions and strategy sessions, apply to become a People Powered member organization!

 
 

The problems with top-down electoral and political campaigns

Electoral campaigns are a crucial moment in the governance process. They are the starting point of the relationship between candidates and citizens. Their culture influences the culture of governing, and they define the candidate’s agenda once in office. If citizens’ participation is not prioritized in campaigns, it can lead to several problems:

  • Elected officials don’t engage with their constituents, calling into question their role as “representatives”

  • Public policies don’t meet the actual needs of constituents

  • Citizens grow disillusioned and detached from the process

  • Candidates get used to top down and undemocratic politics. 

Benefits of using participatory democracy in campaigns 

On the other hand, there are multiple benefits of using participatory democracy to engage people in electoral campaign decisions: 

  • Develop a direct link between citizens and leaders.

  • Foster relationships between citizens and their representatives.

  • Build people’s skills in participatory governance.

  • Train candidates in participatory politics. 

  • Build networks and relationships that last beyond elections.

  • Assure representatives reflect people’s needs.

How to build a people’s campaign via participatory democracy: 

1. Reframe citizens’ role in political campaigns

Traditional electoral and political campaigns tend to say that one politician is the answer to the people’s problems. That is rarely or never seen. One person won’t solve all the problems. WV Can’t Wait has reframed political campaigns from one candidate’s government to people’s government, they have 1000 leaders, not ONE, and the people who work the hardest and bear the greatest burdens are the ones who write the laws. In their communications, they tell the story of the movement, not the candidate. 

In most campaigns, the role of citizens doesn’t go beyond voting and volunteering. The program ‘’Ocupar la Politica’’ aims to reframe what it means to be a citizen, inviting them to take part in every stage of the electoral campaign - allowing them to “occupy politics.” Likewise, the movement WV Can’t Wait also reframed the role of citizens from volunteers to leaders. It holds popular education training for those leaders, instead of speeches. 

Stephen Smith and leaders of WV Can’t Wait at a popular education training.

Stephen Smith and leaders of WV Can’t Wait at a popular education training.

2. Build a new system to replace the old one. 

Too many “democracies” give space to politicians to lie to voters, rule by corruption, and exploit public resources. In order to replace the system that supports these practices, you need to build a new one that will support a people’s government. WV Can’t Wait’s aim is not to PERSUADE those in power; it's to REPLACE them so that the people, not consultants or politicians, can write the laws. 

“Our aim... is not to PERSUADE those in power; it's to REPLACE them” - Stephen Smith

WV Can’t Wait has built the infrastructure for a new system. They started to build it years in advance. During their first election cycle, they developed a new policy platform for the state through a participatory process. This included 197 town halls, 47 parties where people reviewed drafts of the platform and shared feedback, 11,000 face to face conversations, and online feedback forms. 

The campaign recruited 101 working class, pro-labor candidates for office and won 13 elections. The campaign provided safety, security, and mental health services for candidates, and provided 39,700 people with resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. It formed different groups where people shared similar experiences, to build something that would last beyond elections. 

3. Identify and train good leadership, beyond political parties.

Both movements are committed to supporting any candidate independently of their party, as long as they commit to campaign values and are capable of representing citizens.

Extituto selected 20 candidates for the program ‘’Ocupar la Politica’’ and trained them in electoral strategy, volunteer management, and digital tools. They also created exchange spaces and forums to make sure the candidate would be aligned with citizens’ needs and actions.  Some of these exchange spaces were in unexpected and non-traditional spaces, where candidates could share a moment with citizens where they were not in their typical roles, such as fairs and parties. WV Can’t Wait trained over 900 Neighborhood, County, and Constituency Captains, and leaders of specific groups like Seniors Can’t Wait and Students Can’t Wait. 

“Beyond the political party, our goal is to identify good leadership — people who are capable of representing citizens, and who citizens can relate to,” - David Nuñez, Co-Founder of Extituto de Política Abierta

Candidates that were part of the program ‘’Ocupar la Política’’ of Extituto.

Candidates that were part of the program ‘’Ocupar la Política’’ of Extituto.

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