Holding a House Party
A house meeting is a fairly informal, small group discussion. It is usually among people who know each other, but it is a good way to get to know people in a different way, through a deeper discussion of their interests, values, and ideas. House meetings aim at surfacing issues or problems and ideas for action. The house meeting shifts the focus from what an expert can do to fix the problem - or what government should be doing - to what people can do at the community level. As simple as the house meeting sounds, it can cause a revolutionary shift in perspective, and can have huge ripple effects.
Background readings:
Cynthia Gibson's Citizens at the Center
Tips and Tools
Use an issue to focus the meeting. In this case, the focus is on “citizen centered democracy,” and the idea of electing candidates who are our partners, not our saviors.
Invite participants through direct personal contact, not by mass e-mail or flyer. Six to 10 participants works well.
Give yourselves an hour or hour and a half for the meeting. Build in time for socializing before or after the meeting.
Meet in a comfortable setting, such as a home or familiar community site.
As the host, begin with a welcome and an explanation of why you think this is an important and useful discussion.
After people introduce themselves, ask them to say briefly what interested them about the meeting.
Next, pose questions to get the discussion going. Suggestions are:
What are your experiences with elections? Stories here are useful, but they should be short.
Why do you think it’s important to put citizens at the center of elections – what are values that you or your friends have that are important for a healthy democracy?
What is going on with elections today – why is there a problem?
What can people like us do together to take action to strengthen citizenship and a partnership between citizens and government?
Conclude with discussion of next steps. What actions will members take, individually or as a group?
Challenge Candidates
Sample questions to ask political candidates
What specific ideas do you have to involve citizens as partners in public policy making?
How would you change government to involve citizens in the work of public problem solving?
What ideas do you have for tapping the talents and intelligence of citizens in problems like global warming, school reform, creating healthy communities?
How would you train or prepare government workers (civil servants) to be better able to collaborate with citizens as equal partners?
What do citizens outside of government need to do or learn to collaborate better with government?
What are your ideas for changing elections to make them more about choosing a civic partner and less a horse race competition?
How do you plan to help build an /authentic /voice and action that brings citizens together across lines of difference in problem solving and community building?
What are specific mechanisms you would put in place to harvest public inputs in policy formation?
How do you envision working with citizens to address issues such as global climate change (or other policy)?
How are you contributing to a style of campaigning that takes into account the long-term civic health of the nation?
What are your specific plans to develop a new generation of citizen leaders?
Aside from voting and performing community service, what civic duties will you ask American to perform during your administration?
How much do you think local governments are working with citizens to solve problems, and how can the federal government and national leaders reinforce or encourage such work?