Random sampling, election polling and lunch
I’ve just started reading a book called Canuckology by pollsters Darrel Bricker and John Wright. It’s intended to be an account of “what Canadians think and why,” based on meticulous market research. Among other things, its introduction contains a rather eloquent summary of what polling actually is. “Imagine that you have 100 people in a […]
Posted in Democracy, Election 2011 |
Who gets to the top in our democracies?
Let’s pick up where we left off a while ago in Richard Swift’s book, The No-Nonsense Guide to Democracy. At the time, we were looking at the gap between the professional political class and the democratic notion of “rule by the people.” The main question we haven’t asked yet, however, is “Who are the people […]
Posted in Democracy |
Democratic malaise and the professional political class
We’ve looked at voter frustration and the structure of our democratic institutions as reasons why people all over the world have lost interest and faith in democracy. So far, many of these ideas have been drawn from the pages of Richard Swift’s book The No-Nonsense Guide to Democracy. “But democracy’s malaise,” Swift says, “goes deeper […]
Posted in Democracy |
Transit City, big words like kleptocracy, and learning from our conservative opponents
As promised, we’ve spent the past week working through the six steps toward getting involved in social change that Amanda Sussman lays out in The Art of the Possible. We’ve reviewed one a day, using the Transit City plan as an example issue. If you missed any of the relevant posts, you can review the […]
Posted in Democracy |
Making connections in Transit City
The sixth and final step toward getting engaged in social change that Amanda Sussman identifies in the first chapter of The Art of the Possible is to get connected. “Get in touch with those working on your issue,” she says, “by setting up one or two informational meetings… to supplement your research and help you […]
Posted in Democracy |
Developing a plan of action to save Transit City
The fifth step toward social change that Amanda Sussman identifies in The Art of the Possible is to start putting it all together. “Once you have a clearer idea of what it is you want to work on,” Sussman says, “try to articulate it by pulling your thoughts together on paper under the following headers. […]
Posted in Democracy |
Researching Transit City
We’re halfway through the six steps toward getting started in social change that Amanda Sussman proposes in her book, The Art of the Possible. We’ve chosen an issue – in this case, Transit City, for the sake of working on something current and relevant – and we’ve also identified our own resources and the key […]
Posted in Democracy |
Finding others who care about the future of Transit City
It looks like I jumped the gun a little bit with yesterday’s post on the value of making smart decisions about your time and energy, which is the second step toward getting involved in social change that Amanda Sussman identifies in the first chapter of her book, The Art of the Possible. Because the third […]
Posted in Democracy |
Twitter, Transit City, and the first steps toward effective civic action
If you’re just tuning in, I’ve been going over the first chapter of The Art of the Possible by Amanda Sussman, which features six simple steps toward becoming active in social change. The second step, after choosing your issue, is to identify your resources. “How much time and energy am I willing to give?” Sussman […]
Posted in Democracy |
The importance of choosing the right issue
The first step toward social change that Amanda Sussman outlines in The Art of the Possible is choosing a meaningful issue – one that’s important enough to you that you’ll be willing to see it through. “If you are looking for a worthwhile way to spend your time,” Sussman says, “but don’t know what that […]
Posted in Democracy |