Eric Liu started Citizen University, a nonprofit citizen participation organization in Seattle, in 2012. Now, he has built on what he’s learned and authored a book to empower citizens to get involved in their local government.
According to Liu’s book, citizens can create their own power by organizing. This organization doesn’t have to be political in nature. The trick is uniting people around something and then navigating differing views within that organization. Liu also urged citizens to build a “network of connections,” a group of lawyers, church groups, neighbors and journalists that could be alerted when there is state or national action against a certain group.
The goal of Liu’s book is to inspire citizens who feel disenfranchised by the state of current politics to take action in creating the kind of city they want, he said in an interview with The New York Times. He added that citizens must learn to insert themselves into local politics, shining a light on the policies that need to change and making tangible plans to change them.
Read the full story here (via The New York Times)
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