Claim Democracy
Claim Democracy encourages networking and collaboration among national, state and local democracy groups in order to build support for and strengthen a national infrastructure for a pro-democracy movement within the United States.  Its most significant accomplishment thus far has been our November 2003 and 2007 Claim Democracy conferences, which brought together representatives of more than 100 organizations and more than 500 people for intensive private meetings and public dialogue inWashington, D.C. In light of recent election administration problems and high-profile obstacles to fair elections in the public interest, its major goal for 2008 is the Democracy SoS (Secretary of State) project, designed to develop a comprehensive agenda for action by Secretaries of State and other elected officials who influence election policy.

The vision for Claim Democracy is to help create and support a network of state-based organizations that work to secure, enhance and exercise the right vote through a range of reforms and activities. Rather than exclusively focus on one particular reform or another, these organizations would be able to coordinate and pool resources to advocate one of a number of reforms that meet clear pro-democracy goals. Examples include: expanding the electorate, increasing citizen participation, providing fair representation, promoting better political debate, freeing voters to support their candidate of choice and supporting equality in the political process. Potential activities include plans to:
  • Establish a new website with a range of information about pro-democracy issues, blogs from several leading pro-democracy advocates and easy means to find pro-democracy advocates in one’s state or locality. An internal invitation-only set of pages would facilitate communication among leaders of pro-democracy groups.

  • Promote creation of and support for a network of state and local groups working to promote participation and reform in their state – ideally seeking to integrate efforts to boost citizen participation with reform efforts and seeking to establish lasting relationships with elected officials able to enact change.

  • Coordinate regular meetings of a pro-democracy roundtable of national and local groups, designed to promote strategic thinking, greater communication and coordination in the pro-democracy movement and support for state/local efforts.

  • Develop a “war-room” communications ability able to spotlight deficits in our democracy and work being done to address those efforts.

  • Develop and work with caucuses of pro-democracy elected officials, at local, state and federal levels – coordinating strategic initiatives that can be carried out at different levels.

  • Develop curriculum about the history of expansion of democracy in the United States as a whole and individual states to be used in K-12 schools.


 
Issues important to youths often not important to politicians

By MOLLY FREEDENBERG
Published November 1st 2002 in Knox News
Eds: DELETES extraneous sentence at end of graf 5 Rock the Vote. Rock and Register. Get out and Vote. These messages, and others like them, are cropping up sporadically in TV programs, local newspaper ads and political party-sponsored events geared to the 18- to 24-year-old set. The reason? Young people aren't voting. In droves. Voter turnout for people between 18 and 24 is at a record low, based on election data. According to data from the 1996 national elections, only 32.4 percent of youths voted, compared to 67 percent of senior citizens. The numbers indicate a problem, but the solution might be more complex than simply overcoming youth apathy, said Rashad Robinson, field director for the Center for Voting and Democracy in Washington. "That youths are apathetic is a sexy angle to go after," said Robinson, "but it's a simplistic argument." Megan Jennings, 23, campus organizer of the California Student Public Interest Research Group at the University of California, Santa Barbara, agreed. It's not that young people don't care about anything, she said, but that they're disengaged from the political process. Candidates don't focus on youths, so youths don't focus on them, and the disinterest becomes mutual and self-perpetuating. Jennings remembers watching the 2000 presidential debates on television. "All they talked about was Social Security, over and over. ... I have grandparents, and I care about Social Security, but there are other things we care about," she said. Those candidates who do discuss issues important to youths, such as college financing, the job market and affordable housing, don't always talk to the young people themselves. And don't look to television ads to fill in that gap, because they don't target youths either. "The ads weren't during 'Friends' or 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' when young people were watching TV," Robinson said. Those young people who are involved in politics say their parents are politically aware or active, had newspapers around the house and discussed current events. Without those influences growing up, said Robinson, youths don't become involved in politics until they have a personal investment in an issue. And that may not happen until they're out of the "youth" bracket. Tom Hogen-Esch, a professor of political science at California State University, Northridge, said youths often see candidates as being all alike because as candidates have become increasingly more moderate since the '70s, youths are typically idealistic and more liberal. The result is that they don't show up at the polls and aren't represented in political decisions, he said. Hogen-Esch said the problem of low voter turnout must be addressed because it isn't restricted to young people. Robinson suggested changing the system by making a statement of its importance, such as declaring Election Day a national holiday. (Contact Molly Freedenberg of the Ventura County Star in California at mfreedenberg(at)insidevc.com.) Copyright 2002, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved.