Organizing for Constitutional Compliance

Austin Constitution MeetupApril 16, 2009Presented byJon Roland

Stages

Form core group. Research the problem. Select a goal. Develop a strategy. Assess and gather resources. Communicate with targets. Implement activities. Evaluate your efforts.

Form core group

Recruit those needed for success Decide who should not be included Select leaders Select regular meeting times and places Inventory assets Acquire more assets Develop skills

Develop skills

Public speaking Rules of parliamentary procedure Management Bookkeeping Research Writing Motivating

Research the problem

Organize the subject. Answer who, what, how, when, where, why,

and whither. Model the system. Find the points of maximum leverage. Prioritize the interventions. Assess what the interventions will require. Determine what tasks are to be done.

Select a goal

Define an general goal, put it in writing. Break out into subgoals, down to daily ones for

each. Select milestones and a timetable. Don't overreach. Don't become discouraged if subgoals not met

on time. Keep moving forward.

Constitutionalist Goals

Level: Federal, State, Local Branch: Legislative, Executive, Judicial Civic culture Legal profession Academia Media Civic organizations

Constitutionalist Goals

Good place to start is constitution.org page on Political Reform: Statement of Grievances and Demands for Redress Constitutionalist Platform

Pick a goal on which your group will focus. Pick most important one that is most neglected. Encourage other groups to pick others and

support one another. Coordinate on a few shared goals for many

groups.

Example: Trial Jury Reform

Pros Only have to

persuade about 6% of people.

Those can be secondary adopters for further reforms

Not too difficult to explain basics to newbies.

Cons Doesn't help with

things that don't make it to a jury.

Not as attractive to people who want total remedies.

Requires more education of those persuaded.

Develop a Strategy

Identify which decisionmakers can be persuaded and how far, and which must be replaced.

Prepare replacements. Get replacements into key positions. Draft legislation (don't leave drafting to others). Select winnable cases that can establish

precedents. Spread the word on outrages.

Assess & Gather Resources

Leaders Workers Donors Supplies, capital Allied groups Opportunities Threats

Communicate with Targets

Replacements for core group Next level of adopters Intermediate decisionmakers

Staffers Media Constituent groups, sponsors

Ultimate decisionmakers Potential successors to decisionmakers Find, give them what they want to get what you

want

Implement Activities

Keep it professional Pace yourselves Make it fun Economize Focus on what works Keep everyone busy Praise small victories Remember they are volunteers

Evaluate your efforts

Try to measure your efforts and the results. But not everything important is measurable. Figure out what went right, what went wrong,

and why. Learn from the examples of others as well as

your own. Commemorate the victories. Document for later reconsideration.

Constitutionalist Movement History

Roots in antiquity The frontier experience Ratifying state constitutions Ratifying U.S. Constitution Election of 1800 Secession war Reactions to usurpations, especially since 1886 Post-cold-war revival

Lessons of other movements

Legal codification Union Women's suffrage Temperance Civil rights Anti-war Environmental Consumer protection Campaign finance reform

Prepare Yourself

Join existing successful organizations to learn how to make them work.

Try to also pick organizations where there are a lot of recruitment prospects.

Develop support networks for adversity. Get your family on board. Know everything, believe nothing, and be

prepared for anything.

Organization Models

Centralized, top-down Charismatic leader Scripture

Decentralized, bottom-up Public, open Clandestine Leaderless resistance cells

Organization Types

Public education Litigation Lobbying Electoral Professional Academic Religious Infiltrative Millenial

Organizing Tools

meetup.com ning.com facebook.com Listserv Websites, blogs Email, mail, newsletters Books, campaign handbooks Robert's Rules of Order, Revised

Recent events: Tea Party

Grass roots, spontaneous Grew quickly to enough people to be news Instigated by meltdown, government bailouts Politicians, media got on board No real charismatic leader involved Better than a march on Washington But most participants not educated on legal

issues

Beware Pirates!

Opportunists like to hijack new movements. Most participants don't recognize the pirates

until it is too late. Asking politicians to “do something” without

being specific is asking them to do something to you, not for you.

Simple, obvious solutions aren't. There are very few constitutionalist lawyers. Large donations can do more harm than good.

Now it's up to you!