We get it. These are strange and uncertain times, especially in terms of how you can engage with the government and keep safe. You need a product built on the founding mission that government should be transparent and that technology should put government at your fingertips. With FastDemocracy as your digital partner, you can still be a successful advocate, even from home. Here’s how:
1. Stay in touch.
Even when your state government isn’t meeting publicly, the work continues. Use the “contact your legislator” feature on the FastDemocracy platform to remind legislators about what’s important to you and share updates on how changing concerns directly impact your family. Use our news feature to look up your legislator and see them “in the news.” This will let you know if they are working hard or hardly working.
2. Compare responses.
Responses to COVID-19 vary significantly state to state. While approaches range from tepid to robust, knowing how your state compares can help pressure your state government effectively.
Knowing how your state stacks up, also allows you to be innovative. See a good idea in Michigan? Why not try that in Wisconsin? Imitation is the highest form of flattery. If it works elsewhere it might, with a few tweaks, work for your state too and you have the added benefit of learning from what worked (and didn’t) for other states to perfect your advocacy. Use our “compare bill” feature to see commonalities across the country.
3. Hold them accountable.
Your legislators are working in extreme circumstances, in masks, in small numbers on the floor of their chambers, and, problematically, often without public access. However, you can still hold them accountable. Use the voting records feature on FastDemocracy to follow along with what your elected is doing. Let them know that you are watching them (even while socially distant!) and that you plan to inform your community about their voting record during the primaries and general election. With FastDemocracy, you can search for voting records by topic, by bill, and both. FastDemocracy combs through thousands of pages of voting records, so you don’t have to but you can be the check on power your government needs.