Abdullah II of Jordan Quotes

On the show, we are not trying to get people to eat their vegetables; we are not trying to get people to become Democrats. We are basically trying to encourage people to get involved with public life so that politics isn't left to the wealthy and privileged.

Scepticism and cynicism about politics is so great that one of the best counters to it is what you can do at a local level.

I'm involved in issues, and issues are about grass-roots politics.

We need to find a way to empower citizens to make governments take notice.

In general people feel more relaxed about participating in politics. They aren't frightened as they used to be.

I remember my dad supporting everyone on the local and national level. I was pretty much born into it. I saw the importance of politics firsthand. It gave you a chance to be at the table.

Grass Roots Convention

The biggest hurdle that our communities have is cynicism - saying it's a done deal, who cares; there's no point to voting. If we can get somebody to care, it's a huge victory for the movement and the causes we're trying to advance.

I believe in decentralized democracy.

Be informed, ask questions, band together with your community, and fight at the local level. And make sure you take your local elections as seriously as the national ones.

I hope to make clear that involvement in small scale community work can make a difference in our city's politics.

Local politics is just as important as national - and often easier to influence.

It is an incredibly hopeful experience watching communities come together and actually reassemble democracy. The democracy's been taken away from us. But they're reinventing democracy out there in rural Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, in Pittsburgh.

You can make the case that slacktivism is important because it makes people feel affiliated to a movement and be part of it, and talk about it.

As more and more women, men and young people raise their voices and become active in local government, and more local leaders take action for the safety of women and girls, change happens.

The government must give men and women without power a real say over what happens to them, and the means of engaging in a participative, invigorated and living democracy.

I engage with local politics because it affects people I love. And I engage in national politics because it affects people I love.

Without the political parties and the volunteering work of their members day in, day out, we would have a very different sort of politics and society.

So few people vote these days, and I think it's partly because they don't feel like the institution really means anything to them. If you want them to vote, give them opportunities to do something else other than vote, to help.

We've got to figure out a way to cause communities to also want them, the political, organized bodies.

The cooperation of government at its different levels is important and can only be achieved as long as the people of Chicago are directly involved in our efforts and supportive of our goals.

All politics is local.

A messy participatory process is representative democracy at its best.

Politics are close to me, but there are different ways of participating in politics.

You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can't succeed without your help.