Summer Reading: Eight Recent Books on Social, Economic, and Political Empowerment
These books offer perspectives on how we can enable a broader range of people to participate in our systems and institutions.
Civic Engagement Social innovations that enrich society and enhance democratic participation
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The People’s Budget
Participatory budgeting, which enables citizens to decide how to spend public funds, is building a more empowering model of democracy.
Increasing Voter Turnout: What, If Anything, Can Be Done?
Lessons from the voter turnout series, a collaboration between the Hewlett Foundation and SSIR.
Boost Turnout in Primaries By Targeting ‘November-Only Voters’
A recent get-out-the-vote experiment shows that turnout in primaries can be cost-effectively enlarged and broadened by targeting voters who only vote in general elections and who are often ignored by campaigns.
Encouraging Millennials to Vote for the Issues That Unite Them
Building on a quarter century of get-out-the-vote efforts, MTV’s 2016 “Elect This” campaign will encourage young people to vote in support of the polices that inspire them, rather than the political system that doesn’t.
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The Curb-Cut Effect
Laws and programs designed to benefit vulnerable groups, such as the disabled or people of color, often end up benefiting all of society.
Stop Raising Awareness Already
It’s time for activists and organizations to adopt a more strategic approach to public interest communications.
Protest Movements Could Be More Effective Than the Best Charities
To do as much good as possible with limited resources, funders should look to woefully underfunded protest movements.
Community Engagement Matters (Now More Than Ever)
In adopting data-driven practices, leaders must design and implement programs in ways that engage community members directly in the work of social change.
Inside Switzerland’s Radical Drug Policy Innovation
A look at how Switzerland radically and successfully changed its approach to drug policy following a heroin epidemic in the late 1980s and 90s, and what the effort teaches us about the social innovation process.