People Power Expressed in Election Results

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http://www.alternet.org/activism/people-power-expressed-election-results



Sometimes it feels like elections are an exercise in futility. We live in a mirage democracy in which major party candidates are vetted by the corporate machine before they get on the ballot and third party candidates who represent the values of the movement are undercut by actions in which the major parties collude against them.

History instructs that in this environment, it is important to build the movement and use what tools are available to shift power to the people. San Francisco-based lawyer-activist Randy Shaw writes in his new edition of The Activist’s Handbook “that neither politicians nor political parties are the prime movers for progressive change.” He lists actions that should be taken regardless of whom is in power to further the movement’s goals.

The elections this week provide many lessons for the movement. Third party candidates built their bases and honed the skills of their campaign teams so they can try again next time. The greatest successes and lessons from failures were in the area of direct democracy through voter initiatives.

There were multiple examples of the people winning on issues in which the resistance movement has been active, as well as a couple of examples where money overcame people’s movements. Of course, as in every week, there were a lot of non-electoral movement activities too.