Political Action Activities

Engaging Government Officials

Advocate for progress on the issue you care about by engaging elected & government officials.

Write, call, or e-mail them.

Visit them in person.

Visit their offices. You will need to schedule the meeting beforehand and go into the meeting well prepared. See Tips for Visiting Legislators and NP Action Tips on Visiting Elected Officials.
Attend public meetings. This can be especially effective at the local level - visit your school board or city council meeting. Many public meetings have a "public forum" time on the agenda when citizens can speak.
Attend events they will be at. Search for their public schedules on their websites or in newspapers.

Track the bills and legislation being proposed and worked on. At the state and local level, government websites are the places to look for this information. At the federal level, use the following resources:

Youth Policy Action Center - Bill Tracker
Library of Congress THOMAS
OpenCongress

Engage the media.

Contact the media to spread your message about the issue you care about. Write an opinion/editoral or letter to the editor. Call in to a radio talk show. Ask the print or broadcast media to cover your work.

Use the Youth Policy Action Center to Find Media Contacts
Help cover the news with nowpublic, by sending CNN an I-Report, being a FirstPerson for MSNBC, or submitting YouWitness News to Reuters/Yahoo!
Tipsheet: Preparing to Speak to the Media
GYSD Public Relations Guide (While these materials were developed for Global Youth Service Day, the information is valuable for working with the media for any reason.)

There are also many opportunities to generate and share your own content online.

YouTube YouChoose'08 Channel
QuantumShiftTV - QuantumShift TV is a web video network focused on solutions, from global warming to human rights, education to economics, medicine, technology, design, and more. With both original and user-generated content from socially-responsible businesses, non-profits, and independent producers, QuantumShift TV helps you to be the change and share the story
OnDayOne - On Day One is a platform for gathering and sharing your ideas about what the next president can do on the first day of his or her administration to help address the world's most pressing challenges.

Protest, Petitions, Boycotts & Buycotts

Protests, petitions, boycotts, and buycotts are all traditional ways to bring attention to an issue you care about.

Protest.Net offers a calendar of upcoming protests and an Activists Handbook

Visit the following sites to start a petition or to find out mroe about how write a petition.

Take on formal leadership roles.

While you're taking on a leadership role whenever you're taking action on an issue you care about, it's important to look for opportunities to take on a formal leadership position. Some possibilities include:

Student government - most high schools and colleges & universities have student government organizations.
Local government - some school boards and city councils have youth members. If yours doesn't, you can work on getting a youth representative. For more information, visit the National League of Cities YouthScape or Youth Rights Network's article on Introducing a Student Representative Position to the School Board. Try YMCA's Youth & Government program as well.
Youth advisory boards or councils - many government, business, and nonprofit organizations have youth advisory boards or councils to help them gather input and make decisions. For more information, visit
At the Table: Youth Voices in Decision Making or Youth On Board
Boards, councils, or commissions - Government at all levels have MANY, MANY boards, councils & commissions. These can be relatively easy to join or be appointed to and make a big difference, especially at the local level. Visit your city's website or your state's Secretary of State website to find out more.
Run for office yourself! You may need to be 25 to run for some offices (and 35 to run for President) but there are LOTS of offices that you can run for at 18 or 21. Visit Young Politicians of America for more information.

Get informed.

Before taking any action, it's important to read and follow the news and to know how "the system" works and the latest news on the issue you care about.

Read the news. Read your local newspaper, listen to news stations like NPR on the radio, watch news on televison, or read news online like CNN , MSNBC, FOX News, TIME, Newsweek , or US News .

Learn how elections and the government works.

Know your issue. Read the latest news on related organizations' websites. Create a Google Alert to send you news about your issue. Browse our Issue area for more information.

Print.

Send to a friend.

Save to del.icio.us.

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Civic Action Challenge

Step 1: Choose your issue.

Pick an issue that you care about and want to work to address.

Remember to think globally & act locally. For example, you may want to address global climate change. Think about what actions you can take locally to have an impact. When you engage candidates and elected officials, pay special attention to your local and state level politicians.

You can find information, links & resources on our Issues Wiki.

Some issues to consider:

Education & Youth Development
Mentoring
Tutoring
K-12 Education
Higher Education
After School Programs
Family Support

Environment
Global Warming
Going Green
Land & Animal Conservation
Recycling
Endangered Species

Health Care
Family Health Care
Teen Health Issues
HIV/AIDS
Mental & Physical Health

Economy & Employment
Taxes
Large & Small Businesses
Employment Rates
Stock Market
Real Estate

Poverty, Hunger, & Homelessness
Foreclosure Crisis
Hunger
Poverty
Children & Families in Poverty
Job Opportunities

Civil Rights & Liberties
Racial Discrimination
Sexual Orientation
Gender Roles
Religion & Faith

Senior Citizens
Medicare
Social Security
Retirement Plans

Violence & Crime Control
Domestic Violence
School Violence
Gang Violence
Public Safety & Crime Control
Justice System

Disaster Prevention & Relief
Disaster Preparedness
Katrina Relief Action
China Earthquake Relief Efforts
National Relief Supporter

National Security & Defense
Homeland Security
Iraq War
Afghan War
Veterans
Support Our Troops
Peacekeeping
International Relations

Global Citizenship & Cooperation
Human Rights
Child Labor
Genocide
Culture Awareness
Role of the UN

Immigration
Assimilation
Eligibility for Illegal Immigrants
Education for Immigrant Youth

Step 2: Make and share your Action Plan.

Make your action plan.

Make a plan to address this issue in multiple ways – through service activities, electoral activities, political activities, and education activities.

Choose 1 or 2 action steps from each category below (service, electoral, political, education).

At the bottom of this page, there is a form that you can fill out to keep track of your plan. When you submit the form, you'll get a copy of it so you can see your plan, and we'll get a copy too.

Share your action plan.

When you submit the form below, your project will be viewable in our online project database.

If you want, you can also post a message in the Discussion Forum to get comments and ideas from other people.

Step 3: Take action - and share your success!

Put your plan into ACTION!

Check out the links & resources below to help you implement your Action Plan.

The lists below have TONS of links to sites, organizations, and resources that can help you in every part of your plan. (It's LONG, we know, but it's well worth your time to check it out!)

Let the world know about how it went.

Share an update on the Discussion Forum .
Upload pictures or videos to our Flickr & YouTube groups.
Post an update on our Facebook or ThinkMTV groups.

If you need more information at any time, please feel free to shoot us an e-mail .