Democracy Vouchers (Seattle, WA)

• Seattle provides voters with four $25 vouchers that they can commit to eligible candidates for local office. The program seeks to minimize the influence of big money donations on local elections. During the 2021 mayoral election, to take place in November, every registered voter was sent vouchers, and a total of $6.8 million was allocated for the election. Each voter had the option of mailing in their vouchers or allocating them online. Candidates, especially non-incumbents, some of whom had no access to PAC money, were able to run campaigns thanks to the program. Candidates were actively competing for voucher donations throughout the race. 

RankED Choice Voting (NYC, NY)

• Ranked choice voting is a system of electing officials designed to select candidates more representative of the preferences of the electorate. RCV has been adopted and implemented in several cities of various sizes throughout the United States, including Sarasota, FL, Portland, OR, and Takoma Park, MD. New York City recently became the largest city to implement RCV on a city-wide basis, including for its most recent mayoral primary. The system works as follows:

• You can rank up to five candidates in order of preference, instead of choosing just one. If a candidate receives more than 50% of first choice votes, they are the winner. If no candidate earns more than 50% of first-choice votes, then counting will continue in rounds. At the end of each round, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated. If you ranked that candidate first, your vote will go to the next highest ranked candidate on your ballot. This process will continue until there are 2 candidates left. The candidate with the most votes wins.”

block clubs (detroit, mi)

• Block clubs are neighborhood organizations that approach community development from a grassroots level. The creation of citizen-run block clubs, especially when connected to a dedicated Department of Neighborhoods, can help positively shape citizens’ interactions between their neighborhoods and city government. Block clubs play a unique role: these groups have direct communication with assigned “district managers” at the city level who provide resources, information, and a direct link to the mayor. All residents need to do is register a community assembly as a block club, and they are subsequently connected to city and community resources to help advance the goals of the neighborhood they represent.

• By formalizing a system of these community-centered “block clubs,” Detroit’s Department of Neighborhoods (DoN) promotes neighborhood representation and normalizes direct coordination between residents and officials. After decades of decline, nearly 800 active block clubs were created with the help of the DoN; now, these block clubs engage with the city government on a variety of issues and numerous decision-making schemes.

digital platforms for service delivery (orlando, fl)

• Services are not always the most visible or exciting aspect of a city’s operations. Whether it is trash collection, water delivery, or road maintenance, service fulfillment makes up the more “mundane” aspects of everyday governance. However, these small, everyday interactions form a major part of the time citizens engage with their city government.

• Whether it’s a broken streetlight, an old pothole, or a parking meter that eats coins, a citizen’s opinion of their city’s functioning is driven by the delivery of key services that drive quality of life. According to a 2014 Pew Research survey, U.S. individuals cite “well-functioning services, such as trash, roads, and transit” as the primary responsibility of their local government, ahead of other responsibilities such as education and crime.

• Through the innovative Digital Platforms and Service Design (DPSD) team, Orlando seeks to foster a high-quality community “customer experience” in all city services in order to improve the interactions Orlandoans have with their city government, establish trust, and promote a springboard for community members to engage in a life of active citizenship.

Participatory Budgeting (Cambridge, MA)

• Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process through which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget.  In the case of Cambridge, the city sets aside $1 million worth of funding for onetime capital projects to improve the community. Once community members submit ideas, volunteers research the ideas and come up with executable plans of action. 

• After being reviewed by city employees, official proposals appear on a ballot that all residents 12 and up can vote on. Cities including Durham, NC, New York City, and Vallejo, CA have implemented versions of Participatory Budgeting. Research shows that PB has a significant effect on what cities and municipalities prioritize in their budgets, and the process has proven successful in cities of diverse sizes and demographic compositions. 

Lowering the voting age to 16 (Takoma park, MD)

• Takoma Park, MD decided to lower the voting age to 16 in 2013. While the long-term effects of this decision have yet to be fully quantified, the evidence available suggests that voter turnout among registered 16- and 17-year olds is higher than any other age group. Additionally, local officials have made an effort to campaign amongst high school students, and local teachers have integrated more relevant civics lessons into their classrooms.

• National advocates for lowering the voting age argue that doing so will increase civic involvement and turnout rates among individuals aged 18 to 29 because they will be at a less transitory period in their lives when they first are tasked with registering to vote and learning about civic engagement. Advocates also argue that this policy change should be implemented in conjunction with increased civics education in order to better prepare students for becoming informed, active voters. A number of other Maryland cities have begun to implement this reform, in addition to many cities and countries throughout Europe and Latin America.

Leadership Academies (Multiple cities)

• Leadership academies serve to create informed, empowered community leaders who understand how best to interact with their city government in order to affect the change they deems necessary among their neighbors. Leadership academies, such as those in Lancaster, PA, Charlotte, NC, and New Orleans, LA, educate interested citizens in the functions and mechanisms of their city governments, all the while creating a cohort of local leaders who can collaborate to improve their cities. Leaders who graduate from leadership academies are empowered to advocate for themselves and their neighbors, connect those around them with available resources, and often even run for elected office themselves. 

• In Lancaster, community leaders are identified based on their passion for their neighborhoods and communities. Once admitted to the Neighborhood Leaders Academy, members of the cohort spend six weeks meeting with city officials and bureaucrats in order to gain a better understanding of how their city functions, all the while developing a capstone project to improve their neighborhood. The program is effective because it not only gives neighborhood leaders hard skills to aid their communities, but it also forges connections among leaders from different parts of the city and from different socioeconomic backgrounds, who then go on to continue helping each other. Lancaster has expanded their program to city leaders of different ages and demographics, including new immigrants and high school students, aiming to cultivate leadership and civic literacy among all different sectors of the population.

civics education for all (Multiple cities)

• Civics education is integrated into the curriculums of all New York City schools. Year-long civics education culminates in Civics Week in March, which includes voter registration efforts for students 16 and up, city-wide art competitions, and educational sessions about New York City government, including using the Mikva Challenge curriculum to teach students about ranked choice voting. As NYC seeks to expand its civic engagement and make its elections more democratic, civics education for all has become a core tenant for making all of its other efforts successful. 

• Advocates for civics education for all see civics in the classroom as crucial to creating a more equitable, representative democracy. Civics education has the power to not only increase voter participation among young people, the age demographic that votes at the lowest rate, but also empower young people to contribute to our democracy in all of the participatory avenues available to them.