PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY
PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY
Everyone’s voice can help make communities healthier.
Everyone’s voice has a place in making communities healthier and safer for all.
What is participatory Democracy?
Participatory democracy is a model of government where every person has the opportunity to be directly involved in making and changing laws and programs that serve their communities. It is a form of co-governance that activates the power of each person, replacing the oftentimes racist and patriarchal hierarchies that our governments have become adjusted to.
To live out our motto — “By Community, For Community, In Community” — ILARJ continues to work towards politicizing community members to no longer cede their democratic power to others. We believe that while voting is a component of participatory democracy, it is not the only component, and that our voices have the potential to shape our community for the better.
Participatory Democracy Hubs
In 2021, we launched our first Participatory Democracy Hub (The Hub) in Illinois’ second largest city, Aurora. Community members came together to learn about local government, imagine what they want to see in their communities, and share space in other community building events. Participants included the unhoused, formerly incarcerated persons, high school and college students, retirees, and other marginalized or disempowered community members.
We also launched the People’s Movement Assembly to imagine and create MLK’s Beloved Community together through co-governance.
Click on the images below to learn more about ILARJ’s Participatory Democracy Hub projects.
Policy, Advocacy & leadership
Governance is more than just picking somebody on the ballot. The ILARJ community works to advance policies that make community safer and invokes transformative models of justice, rather than continuously relying on cages and needless carceral models. This work is done through participatory research, voter education and outreach, and hosting community spaces to engage in participatory democracy and co-governance work on policies that make a difference for all of us.
As part of this work, ILARJ operates the Leadership Council, a space where currently incarcerated people have a voice in shaping an agenda that makes our communities safer and healthier by centering the lived experience of incarceration.
Illinois is one of only 24 states to restore voting rights immediately after prison. Only Maine, Vermont, and D.C. never take voting rights.
50-state voting rights initiative
While government is more than picking someone on the ballot, everyone has to have that ability in the first place. ILARJ supports voting rights restoration and expansion across the United States because an involved community is a safe community. Subsequently, we are engaged across the country in the ongoing battle to ensure that every person is able to reintegrate into their community.
If you are a member of an organization that is looking for support for voting rights restoration work, please contact us. We are happy to explore any and all opportunities for partnership in this critical work.