How to: Engaging the public for civic change

The following is an op-ed written by UT Votes President Catherine Benavidez. Catherine is a senior government major at the University of Texas at Austin. She is currently working as an Investigative Research  Intern at the Texas Tribune, Advocacy Intern at the Texas Exes, and an Undergraduate Research Assistant with the Department of Government. In her free time she serves as President of UT Votes and is a member of the Student Advisory Board for the University of Texas at Austin’s Legal Services for Students Office.

“Be the change you wish to see” is one of my favorite quotes. It was created by someone that was channeling their inner Gandhi. Real Gandhi, the iconic civil rights activist, didn't ever say that. But the message is clear: it reminds us that we don’t have to accept society in the state that it’s in… especially if it has been crafted by longstanding traditions and misconceptions. Unfortunately, contemporary cynicism prevents people from realizing that as a collective, we have the power to create the world that we want to live in. Chipping away at this apathetic normalcy that holds so many captive comes in 3 main steps. Step one is education.

Step #1: Education

One of the biggest reasons people are disengaged is because of a lack of access to crucial information they need to be educated voters. Many people don’t know what's on the ballot, what a politician's stance on a certain issue is, how the government works, or even how to register to vote. This is at no fault to the citizens; most of the information listed above is difficult to come by and is extremely time consuming to sift through. I believe that basic civic information should be easily accessible and transparent. This is what first convinced me to join a campus organization called UT Votes, which is an omni-partisan political organization. Omni-partisanism means that we embrace all political ideology and don’t take a stance or have a preference for one point of view. We don’t care who people are voting for as long as they vote and make an educated decision. The best way to make an educated decision is by knowing all possible perspectives on an issue, not just a singular polarized one. This is why in addition to registering people to vote, we provide them with information about where their polling place is, what is on the ballot, and current issues that might be prevalent in the state. While there are other organizations that do this, we are the only ones to provide this “omni-partisan” view, which is increasingly hard to come by because of technology’s ability to allow people to self-select the information they receive.

Step #2: Connection

Although education is imperative when it comes to creating strong voting habits, creating strong networks of connectivity are also important for getting people actively engaged. Humans are social beings by nature. We like to feel part of something bigger - we like to feel a sense of belonging. Through UT Votes, we help create these connections by hosting Cafe Conversations. Cafe Conversations are something that myself and another National Campaign Ambassador, Chelsea O’Hara, thought of after attending the last Conference back in the Spring of 2013. The idea behind these “conversations” was to create an informal environment for students to discuss issues without fear of being persecuted about their opinions or ideals. By providing arguments from all parties about something, like fracking for example, we can do so in an objective and constructive fashion. This is something that students do not find in any other place with other organizations. Ultimately, this gives students an outlet to educate themselves in a balanced way, while showing them they don’t need to have polarized views in order to get involved in their political system.

Step #3: Participation

The work that we do day-to-day to get people educated and connected is great when it comes to local and communal issues. However, in order to achieve an electorate’s full potential it is also important to create even wider networks. UT Votes and myself individually help do this by participating in events like the Texas Conference on Civic Life and the Texas Tribune Festival.

             The Texas Conference on Civic life was held in the beginning of November and brought together people from across the state to talk about one central idea: the state of civic engagement in Texas and its future. Ideas, methods, and tools were exchanged in order engage, activate, and inspire our respective communities. At the conference, I helped facilitate an activity that had people write down issues they had present in their communities. These issues were then organized based on topic (transportation, public space, animals, etc…). This was done to see trends in communities so that people could then connect and think of ways to tackle these problems with others in their own communities. There is massive power in numbers.

Of course, I could go off on an inexhaustible tangent about all three of these steps for civic engagement, but I think that what it all comes down to is my sincere belief that we as a society have the power to make a difference. We can’t do this is if we focus on things that divide us like party politics. Participation, not polarization.