All Politics are Local

The term ‘grassroots’ is frequently thrown around in progressive politics. We speak of grassroots organizing to mobilize voters who may not otherwise vote, grassroots engagement about attending your county party meeting, or volunteering to be a precinct captain at the hyper-local level – but what can grassroots efforts genuinely do in a time when the national Democratic party has forgotten most Southern states, and left behind their blocs of progressive voters? The answer is never simple, but in the case of many southern states, organizers and advocates must turn to hyper-local politics, grow small-scale party infrastructure, and work as hard as they can until they can prove to the national party that Republican majority states are worth investing in. 

In my eyes, this work is personal. My political work started in Oklahoma – a state that was founded on agrarian Socialism, had a Democratic majority until the early 2000s and was swiftly taken over by the Republican supermajority as a result of the harshest term limits in the country and lazy politics. During the Democratic stronghold, our political leaders became complacent – they stopped fighting. Meanwhile, Republicans organized at grassroots levels to gain support, invested in their constituents, and fought until they won. Now, Oklahoma, like many other Conservative majority states, has Democrats fighting against abortion bans, corrupt right-wing politicians, partisan gerrymandering, and a multitude of other issues super majorities are never held accountable for. 

As the next election cycle nears, organizers are reminded of the sheer power of local work. We must invest in our constituents to make the ‘table’ bigger rather than bring more seats to the table, strategically plan for electoral infrastructure, and fight until the party can see that states like Oklahoma are worth pouring national funding into. At its core, true politics goes back to conversations with neighbors about a state ballot initiative or a co-worker reminding you to vote; this is the type of civic power local politics has and the capacity that grassroots action can have. The decline in this power can be attributed to the commonly cited “bowling alone theory.” Political scientist Robert Putnam coined the term “Bowling Alone” in his 1995 essay “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.” This nods to the sentiment that civic America no longer shares dinner with our neighbors, joins our local Rotary chapters, attends PTA events, or even joins the town bowling league. This decline in civic infrastructure demonstrates the collapse in social capital, the notion that when the doorbell rings, we answer the door and invite our neighbors in to join in camaraderie. All of these interpersonal exchanges, at one point in time, took place in the form of a precinct or were a context where you’d ensure your peers signed the most recent ballot initiative or even went to vote in the school board election. With this infrastructure gone, organizing must take new forms to garner civic engagement. We need to reimagine how we can ensure our neighbors voted or that our co-workers signed the circulating ballot initiative. The cure to absent civic life is the return to grassroots organizing and holding our local leaders accountable. 

By Lilly Roberson, Co-Director of Education & Advocacy