It’s another Saturday, so for those who tune in, welcome to a diary discussing the Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic Campaign. If you’ve missed out, you can catch up anytime: Just visit our group or follow Nuts & Bolts Guide.
We forget sometimes exactly how many elected positions there are in America. According to the U.S. census, there are more than 511,000 elected positions in the country. That number could actually be much higher if you included local boards that aren’t usually counted.
That’s a lot of positions! One of the problems with so many positions, however, is that many are subject to infrastructure elements that have figured out how to minimize or completely eliminate their impact. These elements are rubber-stamp boards.
How exactly do progressives deal with rubber-stamp boards? And how can we use them to make an impact on our communities?
From corporations to the public sector
Large and small corporations have at times assembled boards of directors to merely act as rubber stamps on the proposals being offered by the management teams, administration, or staff of an organization. Some countries have seen such problematic rubber-stamp boards that they have crafted laws, such as India’s 2013 Companies Act, designed to make it more difficult for companies to create them.
In government, though, rubber-stamp boards are rapidly growing. From elected school boards to elected zoning boards, these bodies are set up to turn elected positions into largely ceremonial roles, with very little ability to actually shape or alter policy. These entities become monoliths that are unlikely to develop real change, are friendly to large corporate partners, and will focus on diminishing their own governance. For conservatives, this is ideal.
Elections are the only solution
In truth, the reason these situations occur is that conservatives have made significant inroads in taking over local boards and city and county offices. These offices just aren’t sexy enough for Democratic candidates to run for, unfortunately. Over the last few weeks, I’ve met with moderate and conservative Republicans who serve on these boards and have asked them what they think the role is and how they represent the public. Most were shockingly forward, telling me that they believed their primary role as a board member was to reduce the cost of the organization to the community, and providing services as intended didn’t appear anywhere at the top of their reasoning. Several others indicated a real need for community service, and the overwhelming majority led by telling me that the one reason they ran is that “I didn’t have to run a real race,” meaning that they expected to do very little campaigning because no one else would run.
When Democratic or progressive candidates run for these offices, they win. It isn’t just because they are Democratic and progressive; it is because no one else is running, at all. In race after race nationally, the number of candidates running for posts often barely fills the need. If two positions on a board are up for election, often only two people run, so there is, in fact, no election.
In order to start changing public policy and provide more transparency and accountability, we have to get more people to run for local offices to make sure the public at least has the opportunity to be involved.
Who makes a good candidate and elected official?
As I travel around my state and the country and talk to people about local elections, everyone asks me what qualifications are necessary. First, by law, for most posts that are not attorney general or district attorney, the only qualifications are: have a pulse and be a U.S. citizen of voting age. That’s it. These positions do not require advanced degrees, legal knowledge, or any other qualification. What they really require are people who simply want to serve their community.
Our body politic would be well served if more people ran on their own merits for posts instead of thinking the posts are unattainable. Despite what is said, many of our elected offices need a little bit of boat-rocking, and outside perspectives may not be entertained. When I meet with a group of young Democrats, one of the most frequent and greatest questions I hear is, “Why is it done this way?” and the answer from too many older people, including Democratic leadership, is, “We’ve always done it this way.” In a state meeting in Hawaii, a young woman heard something similar and stood up and said, “That’s not a good enough answer. We should see if doing it another way is better.”
Bingo.
Are you willing to rock the boat? Want to jump into a race where simply paying the filing fee and sitting at home might get you elected? Around the country there are thousands of these races. Don’t fret about the fact it has “always” been this way. It is possible, right now, to change it.
Next week on Nuts & Bolts: DNC delegate plans—what do they mean?