Why did we form Democracy Alert?
Increasing inequality, increasing precarious employment, increasing corporate power and increasing disinterest in the democratic process: all four are phenomena of the 21st century which we, at Democracy Alert, believe the public needs to start talking about. But how does one kick-start that discussion and where?
Democracy Alert believes that one of the best places to begin is within our secondary schools and with our post-secondary institutions. We’ve started work on the former and have focused on three groups that can affect change:
Democracy Alert believes that one of the best places to begin is within our secondary schools and with our post-secondary institutions. We’ve started work on the former and have focused on three groups that can affect change:
Our senior bureaucrats
Whether they are at the Department of Education, the School Boards, or Memorial University, all have a role to play in generating ideas and facilitating discussion forums on the topic of tackling our growing democratic deficit. Ideally we would like to see CEOs and senior management across disciplines working together collaboratively with civil society groups like ourselves to bring change. Strong leadership is needed.
Our Actions over the Past Year
Democracy Alert had several meetings with either the Deputy Minister or other personnel in the Department of Education in 2014-2015. The focus of discussions has been on the link between the very poor youth voter turnout at elections and the high school social studies curriculum in Newfoundland and Labrador. Our position is that while there is diligent emphasis in our high schools on how to educate students to be good workers and good consumers there is no longer anything in the curriculum that focuses on how to be good citizens. That needs to change.
Our teachers
We, at Democracy Alert, are mindful of the heavy workload teachers already bear. They don’t need yet another societal task placed upon them. Yet, we are also confident that, if teachers are made aware of the low voting statistics among our province’s young people, they will want to be part of the search for solutions to growing youth political apathy. For that reason finding ways of talking to teachers is one of our primary goals.
Our Actions over the Past Year
In August, 2015, Democracy group presented our concerns about low youth voter turnout and how that related to the education they were receiving to the Executive of the NLTA. We called on the NLTA to find ways to publish information about youth political disengagement among teachers,either through workshops or staff meetings.
Our students
Where are the opportunities for increased student “participaction” outside of the classroom? What about school announcements, school assemblies and student council activities? We have some ideas as to how all three could be used to stimulate democratic messaging (by and for students) without increasing teacher workload.
What's our role?
The first step in achieving any of the above has to be lobbying, something which activists often find hard to do. What have we learned from our experience to date?
If you are going to be a lobbyist you need to:
Meeting and talking with those who hold leadership roles in government and the civil service is important. But even more important is dialoguing with ordinary Canadians. Some of that can be done on line through social media. But on-line activity shouldn’t be replacing sitting down around a table and sharing coffee and ideas together. We need both.
Members of Democracy Alert are available to give presentations or take part in more informal gatherings with people in the St. John’s and CBS areas. If you are part of a church, community, youth or senior group of whatever ilk or focus, and would like to have a talk about democracy please contact us at democracyalert.nl@gmail.com. We would be pleased to hear from you.
If you are going to be a lobbyist you need to:
- Be persistent. If you get no response to your first request for a meeting, try again. And again. Consider delivering your request rather than using e-mail.
- Be focused. If you are going in to a meeting to talk about curriculum make sure you have studied the curriculum and know what you want to focus on.
- Be open. Listen respectfully and carefully to points of view that differ from your own with a view to finding common ground. We’re all in this together.
- Be organized. Follow-up your meeting with a letter summarizing what you feel has been accomplished and where there might still be concerns.
- Be strategic. Always think ahead to what the next step or meeting could be.
- Be patient. Great leaps forward only come after a lot of small, sometimes seemingly futile small steps.
Meeting and talking with those who hold leadership roles in government and the civil service is important. But even more important is dialoguing with ordinary Canadians. Some of that can be done on line through social media. But on-line activity shouldn’t be replacing sitting down around a table and sharing coffee and ideas together. We need both.
Members of Democracy Alert are available to give presentations or take part in more informal gatherings with people in the St. John’s and CBS areas. If you are part of a church, community, youth or senior group of whatever ilk or focus, and would like to have a talk about democracy please contact us at democracyalert.nl@gmail.com. We would be pleased to hear from you.
