THE PATH FORWARD FOR CHANGE

PHASE I. REBUILDING AWARENESS IN DEMOCRATIC NORMS: STATE-BY-STATE PUBLIC CIVICS CAMPAIGNS

The By the People, for the People initiative would be directed by a National Advisory Board comprised of nonpartisan civil society thought leaders, leading democracy scholars and communication experts. The National Advisory Board would direct an extensive nationwide communications campaign that engages the American people with the overarching goals of the initiative, building faith, trust and hope over time as the initiative builds toward a national People’s Assembly (see Phase 2)

The National Advisory Board and initiative staff would also facilitate the start-up of the state campaigns and the identification of coalition leadership in each state. The National Advisory Board would assist states with creating and executing their public civics campaigns, including providing sample nonpartisan civics materials and general campaign messaging for customization. Each state coalition would be responsible for customizing, refining and implementing their respective public civics campaign, while working in partnership with the National Advisory Board and state-specific initiative staff.

In all 50 states, state coalitions formed would include a broad spectrum of nonpartisan, civil society groups (civic, voter advocacy, business, faith-based, education, environmental, health, etc.) that are representative (demographically and geographically) of resident populations. A select number of individual residents not associated with specific organizations would also be among coalition members. Academic partners would be available to assist with rapid message testing (when requested), material development, strategies for countering mis/disinformation, etc.

Each state coalition would include a leadership board, recruited through outreach to be representative of its broader membership. State coalitions would be governed according to by-laws that commit the coalition members to focus their public civics campaigns solely on the topics of democratic norms and government functions. These “basic civics” campaigns would be widely accessible in content and avoid unrelated topics, including those that could be divisive or distracting. Coalition members would also establish a set of agreements (built into their by-laws) ensuring that their work be conducted in a nonpartisan, deliberative and collaborative manner.

State coalitions would conduct their public campaign efforts inclusively, with broad reach and with accessible materials for their state’s many communities. Campaign activities could include activities like billboards, TV ads, text and digital ad campaigns, influencer outreach efforts, podcasts, media relations, as well as business, university and community partnerships. The By the People, for the People initiative leadership will regularly seek ways to assess and aid the reach of the state coalition campaigns.

We believe that people who participate in designing and implementing a public civics campaign will be especially motivated and prepared to participate in a national People’s Assembly that reimagines our democracy. In other words, the experience of organizing the public civics campaigns—versus simply receiving information from them—will not only help build commitment, but would likely lead to better outcomes from the People’s Assembly deliberations

After three years of developing and conducting the state public civics campaigns, the first-of-its kind national People’s Assembly would be convened in Washington D.C.

Delegates to the People’s Assembly would be selected by the state coalitions in a consistent and transparent process agreed upon in advance by all state coalitions. The national People’s Assembly would deliberate for one year, producing a comprehensive Democracy Roadmap of democratic, common-ground institutional reforms for implementation by both the public and private sectors at the national, state and/or local levels. The goal of these reforms would be to achieve a strong, responsive and truly representative democracy engendering high levels of trust, engagement and accountability in government.

The People’s Assembly deliberations would be aided by an advisory committee of leading nonpartisan democracy scholars (convened by initiative leadership), who would share established academic research on the recognized pros and cons of proposed democracy reforms. An advisory committee of nationally respected former policymakers could also be available (if requested) as a resource to address delegates’ questions during their deliberations. In addition, the People’s Assembly delegates would determine how best to utilize these materials so that they inform and potentially facilitate their deliberations.

Once a draft of the Democracy Roadmap is completed, it would be publicly released nationally for input. Americans would be asked to express their reactions via the initiative’s website, as well as through comments/discussions at public meetings. State delegates would bring the draft back to their respective state coalitions for dissemination through the local communication channels previously established by the coalitions. State coalitions would also present the Democracy Roadmap to the people in each state through community meetings that provide opportunities for questions and dialogue. State-specific initiative staff would assist the state coalitions with this dissemination process.

Engagement with congress, state legislatures, state and local governments, and the private sector would be an integral part of the process, as recommendations would likely involve these different arenas. Each state coalition (and possibly other state stakeholders) would then decide how best to work toward adoption of the Democracy Roadmap and whether they want to edit/adapt the recommendations for their specific state or local context.

Each state coalition would have the option to include a summary of the state-specific response/ adaptation to the Democracy Roadmap in the finalized released report. Some groups (in or out of the coalitions) may decide to specifically advocate for some sections of the Democracy Roadmap, while others could individually decide to not pursue sections. All of this would be considered part of a successful, democratic adoption process.

Democracy Roadmap adoption and implementation at national, state and local levels would be tracked over time by the initiative and publicly shared through an annual report. Ultimately, it’s the American people who will advocate for the Democracy Roadmap’s reforms and work for their adoption and implementation.