Re-imagining the power of democracy between and beyond elections.

Democracy Beyond Elections is a collaborative, national campaign dedicated to transformative democracy rooted in community led decision making.

It is not enough to get the right person elected or to know that those closest to the issues are closest to the solutions — we must act on this knowledge and put real decision making power in community hands.

This means equipping community-members often ignored, pushed out, or marginalized by our current democratic systems with the tools, resources, and opportunities to deeply engage in democratic processes. This means committing to radically reimagine what participation and civic engagement really entail — including tangible and consequential power sharing. And this means expanding our definition of democracy to extend between and beyond elections in participatory practices that include everyone.

Simply put, you should have a say in the decisions that impact you and your community — including how they are made.

The Problem

We're facing a crisis of credibility and lack of trust when it comes to government in the United States.

Democracy in the United States remains largely limited to occasionally electing a few leaders to decide for us. This structural political inequality may work well for those in power, but it is also fueling deep polarization, distrust of government, and skepticism of democracy itself.

And yet, most responses to this democratic crisis have been confined within our dysfunctional political system. While reforms to our existing systems are critical – making voting more accessible and less driven by money, expanding civic engagement, and holding our elected officials accountable to the people who elected them – this alone will not fix our democracy.

Communities across the country are demanding more meaningful ways to engage with their neighbors, develop solutions to public problems, and real decision-making power.

The Solution

Build mutual trust between communities and government, and expand public power over decisions.

It’s time to invest in new models of participatory democratic governance led by and for communities traditionally left out of decision-making spaces.

There are communities around the world that have already seen the ways that participatory democracy can make government more responsive and equitable. Over 7,000 cities use participatory budgeting to enable residents to directly decide how to spend public budgets. In states and nations, policy juries and assemblies convene representative samples of the community to produce decisions and statements on policies, ballot measures, and constitutions.

Research shows that this engagement increases understanding of and trust in government, inspires transformative learning and civic leadership, and directs resources to communities with greater needs.

The core principle of Democracy Beyond Elections is
real decision-making power
that is:

We must ensure that if you live in the community, you have a role and a voice in how decisions are made – and in making them.

Unlike traditional elections, which are filled with barriers to participation, community-led decision making centers directly impacted community members. Participatory democracy requires that folks left out of traditional election-centered democracy, including but not limited to Black communities, immigrants, and formerly and currently incarcerated folks, are centered in both the leadership of participatory practices and their outcomes. We must ensure that community-led decision-making processes center and serve the needs of most impacted communities — from outreach, participation, and voice, through to implementation.

We must equip community members with the tools, knowledge, and information they need to meaningfully participate.

It is not enough to say that everyone can participate. We must create the conditions in our processes that make it so everyone can participate. This means community-led decision making processes that provide and center access needs including but not limited to language access, disability access, and economic access. This requires us to ensure that processes are built with community so that they take into account the access to technology, meeting times and locations, and even modes of communication that work for the particular community. Barriers to participation like age, citizenship, registering to vote, location, should be directly addressed and removed.

We must ensure that the decisions reached by community-led decision-making processes are taken seriously, honored, and implemented transparently.

Community-led decision-making processes should hold real tangible value – not be relegated to trivial and theoretical exercises. They should have power over significant budgets or policies. True participatory democracy requires that committees or councils are not just “surveys” to gauge attitudes and views – followed by a business as usual process where people already in power go behind closed doors to make the final decision. In order to be transformational, community-led decision-making processes must have teeth and transparency – from beginning to end, including implementation.

Equitable

We must ensure that if you live in the community, you have a role and a voice in how decisions are made - and in making them. Unlike traditional elections, which are filled with barriers to participation, community-led decision making centers directly impacted community members. Participatory democracy requires that folks left out of traditional election-centered democracy, including but not limited to Black communities, immigrants, and formerly and currently incarcerated folks, are centered in both the leadership of participatory practices and their outcomes. We must ensure that community-led decision-making processes center and serve the needs of most impacted communities — from outreach, participation, and voice, through to implementation.

Accessible

We must equip community members with the tools, knowledge, and information they need to meaningfully participate. It is not enough to say that everyone can participate. We must create the conditions in our processes that make it so everyone can participate. This means community-led decision making processes that provide and center access needs including but not limited to language access, disability access, and economic access. This requires us to ensure that processes are built with community so that they take into account the access to technology, meeting times and locations, and even modes of communication that work for the particular community. Barriers to participation like age, citizenship, registering to vote, location, should be directly addressed and removed.

Significant

We must ensure that the decisions reached by community-led decision-making processes are taken seriously, honored, and implemented transparently. Community-led decision-making processes should hold real tangible value - not be relegated to trivial and theoretical exercises. They should have power over significant budgets or policies. True participatory democracy requires that committees or councils are not just “surveys” to gauge attitudes and views - followed by a business as usual process where people already in power go behind closed doors to make the final decision. In order to be transformational, community-led decision-making processes must have teeth and transparency - from beginning to end, including implementation.

We must ensure that if you live in the community, you have a role and a voice in how decisions are made – and in making them. Unlike traditional elections, which are filled with barriers to participation, community-led decision making centers directly impacted community members.

Participatory democracy requires that folks left out of traditional election-centered democracy, including but not limited to Black communities, immigrants, and formerly and currently incarcerated folks, are centered in both the leadership of participatory practices and their outcomes.

We must ensure that community-led decision-making processes center and serve the needs of most impacted communities — from outreach, participation, and voice, through to implementation.

We must ensure that the decisions reached by community-led decision-making processes are taken seriously, honored, and implemented transparently. Community-led decision-making processes should hold real tangible value – not be relegated to trivial and theoretical exercises. They should have power over significant budgets or policies. True participatory democracy requires that committees or councils are not just “surveys” to gauge attitudes and views – followed by a business as usual process where people already in power go behind closed doors to make the final decision. In order to be transformational, community-led decision-making processes must have teeth and transparency – from beginning to end, including implementation.

Goals & Activities

We aim to increase the quantity and quality of government programs that engage community members in civic engagement and democracy beyond elections, at the local, state, and federal level.

Resources

A Community-led Recovery: ARPA Funds in Central Falls, RI

December 13, 2022 / Case Study / ARPA

A group started VOCES CON PODER in Central Falls, RI, to use participatory democracy practices to allocate ARPA

A Community-led Recovery: ARPA Funds in Oregon

December 12, 2022 / Case Study / ARPA

Youth Voice Youth Vote PB (YV2 PB) was launched in Oregon in 2022 to use participatory democracy practices

Participatory Policy-Making Learning Exchange

March 10, 2022 / Event / Participatory Policy-making

This graphic presents a vision for participatory policy-making rooted in equity, accessibility, and significance. It's the result of

Participatory Policy-Making Toolkit

November 1, 2021 / Toolkit / Participatory Policy-making

This toolkit uses the umbrella term “participatory democracy” to refer to processes that put real decision-making power in

Tools for Virtual Engagement

October 15, 2021 / Brief

This brief offers considerations for making virtual decision-making processes accessible and equitable throughout and beyond the COVID-19 era.

A Community-led Recovery: How to Use Participatory Budgeting for American Rescue Plan Funding

September 14, 2021 / Brief / ARPA, Participatory Budgeting

This booklet provides information on how your community can and must have a say in American Rescue Plan

Democracy Beyond Elections

August 4, 2021 / One-pager

This one-pager gives an overview of what Democracy Beyond Elections (DBE) is providing goals and solutions to deepen

Participatory Policy-making

July 20, 2021 / One-pager / Participatory Policy-making

This one-pager gives an overview of what participatory policy-making (PPM) is, why it is a useful tool, the

“Where We Live NYC:” The NYC Fair Housing Assessment

June 24, 2021 / Case Study / Participatory Policy-making

In 2018, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the New York City

Community-Driven Zoning and Development in Chicago’s 35th Ward

May 17, 2021 / Case Study / Participatory Policy-making

When Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa took office in 2015, he initiated a six-month long process to restructure the way

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Re-imagining the power of democracy between and beyond elections.

Democracy Beyond Elections is a collaborative, national campaign dedicated to transformative democracy rooted in community led decision making.

The Problem

We're facing a crisis of credibility and lack of trust when it comes to government in the United States.