Lend A Hand

What can you do to be an informed and engaged citizen? It all starts with a passion to get involved. Here are some ways to actively learn about your local government and become a moving force within that government:

1. Voter Initiative & Referendum – Voter Initiative is the ability of citizens to adopt laws or amend the constitution within their state or city. Two types of initiatives exist – Direct and Indirect. Direct Initiative allows the citizens to put a statute or amendment directly on a ballot to be voted on by the people whereas Indirect initiative requires a petition be submitted to the legislature for approval before being placed on a ballot. Read more about the initiative process. Referendum is the process that allows citizens of an area to reject laws and amendments proposed by the legislature of the state. Again there are two forms; Popular and Legislative. Popular referendum gives the people the power to refer a law or amendment to citizens for acceptance or rejection. A petition signed by a predetermined number of people must be acquired for the referendum process. Legislative referendum is when a member of the state or city government submits a proposition for the people to approve or reject. Sometimes this is required by the constitution but many times the legislature does this volutarily. As you can imagine initiatives and referendums put a lot of power and control into the hands of the citizens and should be used when necessary. Currently only 24 states have a form of voter initiative and 24 have popular referendum (they are not the same 24 in both cases although some do overlap). All 50 states allow Legislative Referedum. Check here to see what your state has. Even if your state doesn’t have voter initiative, your city might so you should check your city’s policies through a city website if your city has one or through your local legislative if not. In the case that your state does not have voter initiative, you should begin working towards getting a law passed to allow the process in your state. Contact your governor and state legislature. Recruit other people and form a grass roots organization if you need to. Inform as many people as you can. I didn’t even know this existed until I read about it somewhere. People in my state have been fighting for initiative for years so be prepared for a battle.
2. Communicate With Representatives – Many people don’t bother to write (or even email) their elected representatives because they figure they don’t want to hear from them or they don’t care. This is not necessarily true! Letting your representatives know what’s important to you and what you want to see done is the first step in evaluating your elected government. I have never contacted an elected official and not received a response of some sort. Read the responses and keep track of your representatives votes (Congress.org is a great place for this). If they don’t respond, don’t reelect them. If they tell you one thing and vote another, don’t reelect them. If they tell you what they stand for and then they stand by it – Reelect them! As you see, this will help you become more informed about your elected representatives without relying solely on the sometimes ugly and never objective campaigning.
3. Attend School Board & Town Meetings – Don’t wait for a critical issue before making your existance known. Go to local meetings every time. Even if no controversial topic is being discussed, they are talking about your taxes money and your “best interests” at every meeting. Make sure you are there to speak up if something is said that doesn’t represent what you want or if the issues you are interested in are being overlooked entirely.
4. Join Civic Groups – Search online through your local websites, in your local library and colleges, and in local newspapers for group getting together to discuss the topics that are important to you. Join the Parent-Teachers organization at your child(ren) schools. Serve on boards of organizations whose work you support. Everyone is busy, everyone has a million other things to do but nothing is more important than helping make this nation a better place!

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