By the People

Members of the November 5th Coalition, previously described in this blog, are beginning to affect the 2008 election season. On Saturday, October 13, the Edwards campaign was the first major presidential campaign to respond effectively to the challenge of all citizens to reclaim democracy as the ongoing work of the people. One of our coalition partners, AmericaSpeaks, helped the Edwards campaign to develop an initiative for "Citizen Congresses" that would involve one million Americans deliberating on the issues of our day, as part of his "One Democracy Initiative." Another coalition partner, the Study Circles Resource Center has also blogged about Edwards’ speech. We welcome this initiative, as well as John Edwards' important acknowledgment of citizen centered work and a movement in New Hampshire and around the country in deliberation, new forms of democratic and shared governance and many other forms of public work. We look forward to other candidates' ideas and proposals for partnering with the new citizen movement.