A Citizen's Guide to Grassroots Campaigns
Civic movements are essential to American's freedom and quality of life. Active citizens have led the way from the American Revolution to urban renewal. But fiery emotions and good intentions without skillful organization can lead to frustration. How can individual concerns be transformed into effective community action?Jan Barry provides a pragmatic, common-sense handbook to civic action. Using case a "guidebook for creative improvement on the American dream." He dissect civic actions such as environment campaigns, mutual-help groups, neighborhood improvement projects, and a grassroots peace mission to Russia. Looking for patterns to explains successes and failures, Barry includes his own experience as a Vietnam veteran peace activist to inspire and coach fledgling activists. The result is a wealth of practical, nonpartisan information on membership recruitment, organizational skills, public speaking, lobbying, publicity, conflict resolution, and more. Rising above any particular political, social, or religious beliefs, Barry shows would-be activists how to confront one enduring truth- "Democracy is a lot harder to do than it is to talk about or fight over."