...but don't just vote Democratic. Get involved in your local Democratic Party.
At first glance, that seems like an easy question, particularly for those of us who live in states where we register to vote by political party: what does it say on your voter registration?
But when we think about this a little more, we’re forced to contend with bigger questions: What exactly is the Democratic Party? What does it mean to call yourself a Democrat? What do Democrats do?
Three Models
From what I’ve seen, there are a few different models out there for what it means to call yourself a Democrat:
Facebook Model: In this model, being a Democrat is akin to clicking “Like” on the page for an organization on Facebook.
- It’s not an exclusive choice on any level; you can “Like” a whole bunch of pages, including for organizations that contradict or oppose one another, without the expectation that if those organizations are in conflict, you’ll have to choose one and break with the other. There aren’t any standards for who gets to “Like” an organization’s Facebook page.
- It does not imply membership in any organization or group; you probably don’t get a vote in the overall direction of that organization or group, nor do you expect to have one.
- It does not imply any change in behavior; while you might be invited to events or calls-to-action every so often, there’s absolutely no real expectation that you’ll be there. If you click “Like” on the World Wildlife Fund’s Facebook page, nobody is going to ask you when you last participated in a WWF event, and imply that you’re not really a supporter of WWF if you haven’t ever done it.
Vegetarian Model: In this model, being a Democrat is much like being a vegetarian.
- You get to choose what “vegetarian” means: Does my definition of “vegetarian” allow me to eat fish? Shellfish? Mollusks? Eggs? Milk? There isn’t any established authority that defines what foods count as “vegetarian” and what foods don’t.
- While there are lots of organizations that promote vegetarianism, there is no single overarching vegetarian organization. Being a vegetarian doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to be involved in any vegetarian organization, which naturally means you also don’t expect to get a vote on the overall direction of vegetarianism as a social movement.
- Being a vegetarian does imply a change in behavior, but that change is all about the choices you’re making as an individual: what will you eat? There aren’t any expectations for communal participation or involvement in anything, nor is there an expectation that your choice will necessarily impact the lives of other people or your decisions on how to relate to other people in any way.
Rotary Club Model: In this model, being a Democrat is like being a member of the Rotary Club.
- There is a single Rotary organization, with a club (or multiple clubs) in your city or town. The idea of an “independent Rotary club” doesn’t really make sense; local Rotary clubs are defined by their relation to Rotary International. The definition of a Rotary Club is set according to the standards of that international body.
- Being a member of Rotary means that you get to vote on the direction of that local club (including its officers, what projects it’s going to take on, and what its priorities are going to be) as well as (directly or indirectly) on the direction of the Rotary organization in your region, in the nation as a whole, and internationally.
- As a member of your local Rotary Club, you’re on the membership rolls—meaning that your fellow Rotarians have a right to expect that you’ll pull your weight by going to the meetings, working to organize or help with Rotary Club events, and giving your time, money, and energy in the service of a shared cause. If you tell someone “I’m a Rotarian, but I never go to the meetings or participate in the club,” they’re not out of line to wonder: In what sense are you really a Rotarian?
All three of these models (and probably many more besides) are valid insofar as they describe what we might mean when we say “I am a Democrat.”
Some of us mean it in terms of what it says on our voter registration form, others in terms of an ideological commitment that primarily takes the form of individual actions, and still others in terms of a commitment to put time and effort into an organization we care about and whose goals we share.
You’ll notice that I’ve arranged these three models in order, from the lowest amount of commitment to the greatest, from less effort required to more.
That was intentional, because this is my thesis:
Our goal—as Democrats and progressives—should be to move ourselves and others toward the Rotary Club Model of membership in the Democratic Party.
Your Local Democratic Party
The Democratic Party isn’t a monolithic entity, but (Will Rogers aside), like the Rotary Club, it is an organized one.
The Democratic National Committee is an umbrella organization over the various state-level Democratic Party committees—which includes not only the 50 enfranchised states, but also disenfranchised states/territories (like DC and Puerto Rico) and Democrats Abroad (which is exactly what it sounds like).
With a few exceptions (like DC and Democrats Abroad), every one of the state Democratic Party committees (to my knowledge) is organized further into county Democratic Party committees.
Most (if not all) of those county Democratic Party committees have regular meetings, at which the business of the party is conducted—discussions of party financials, plans for various events or fundraisers, coordination on efforts like GOTV or flyering or public outreach, announcements of opportunities to get involved locally.
And even if the party business itself seems a little esoteric or mundane (it certainly does to me, at times), your local Democratic Party committee meeting is a great way to connect with other Democrats in your area—connections that often cross generational, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines—and often, to get to know the people who hold or are running for local office.
If you don’t know when and where your county’s Democratic Party committee meets, you should probably find that out—not only because our local Democratic Party committee meetings should be on all of our schedules (if they aren’t already), but also because we are the crucial step in spreading the word about those meetings to our fellow progressive Democrats.
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Know someone who wasn’t involved in politics before, but who has been energized by one of our party’s presidential candidates? They should get to their local party meeting and find out how they can get active for the causes they care about at the local Democratic Party level as well—and work to connect their fellow candidate-supporters with their local Democratic Party.
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Know someone who is seriously involved in other progressive causes or organizations? They should get to their local party meeting and find ways to connect those causes or organizations with the local Democratic Party (if it’s legal for their organization to coordinate with a political party), to provide mutual assistance.
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Know someone who calls themselves a Democrat, but doesn’t come to the meetings? (Is that person you?) This is an opportunity for all of us to challenge ourselves: Am I a Facebook Democrat, or am I a full-fledged member of the Democratic Party?
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Know someone who likes the Democrats and their ideas, but is frustrated with the DNC? Decisions are made by people who show up—and if the only people who show up are the ones who support the system we don’t like, we shouldn’t be surprised when the system doesn’t change.
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Know someone who is frustrated with the Democrats’ position (or lack thereof) on [XYZ] issue? See above: Decisions are made by people who show up. If we change the people who show up, we change the system.
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Know someone who is frustrated that they never see local Democrats out and about—at community events, registering voters, etc.? Plans, like decisions, are made by people who show up. Perhaps your local Democratic Party committee isn’t aware of the opportunity, or doesn’t have the person-power to plan and manage that sort of thing. Perhaps you could step up.
Unfortunately, there isn’t any kind of central online clearing-house where you can find out when and where your local Democratic Party committee meets; the best I can do is offer this page linking to all of the state Democratic Party sites, and hopefully they’ll have the information online for the county level.
But I just skipped that process and googled “[my county] democratic party,” and that got me to my local Democratic Party committee’s site. I’d be willing to wager that trying that will work for you too.
Yes, the meetings can be boring. Yes, the meetings can be contentious. Yes, the meetings can sometimes follow Robert’s Rules of Order a little too much (one person in my local Democratic Party committee brings his well-worn copy of Robert’s Rules to every single meeting).
But that’s how the business of the Democratic Party is done. That’s what it means to be a Democrat. It’s not going to be excitement and GOTV and pumped-up rallies all the time; all of those rallies and all of that excitement is the result of hours and hours and hours of work from dedicated people.
Why not be one of those people?
Conclusion: The Bottom Line
The Democratic Party does not belong to its leaders; it belongs to all of us.
It is our responsibility to improve and strengthen and build our party.
Nobody else is going to do it for us.
So, I ask again:
Are you a Democrat?
If so—what kind of Democrat are you?
