Table Of Contents Independent American Party Training Manual
1. The Critical Role Of The Independent American Party.
2. Characteristics Of The Independent American Party
3. Focusing On The Local Level.
4. Independent American Party Organization.
5. Independent American Party Development.
6. Selecting Political Parties For Assistance.
7. Principle Training Techniques Used In The Independent American Party.
8. Operational and Structural Developments.
9. Election Campaign Techniques.
10. Effective election campaign Activities.
11. Post-Election Independent American Party Assessment.
12. Parties In Congress.
13. Assisting Parties In Congress.
14. Starting Point.
15. Criteria For Selecting Parties And Baseline.
16. Purpose And Process Of Baseline Assessments.
17. Making The Difficult Decision.
18 Building Trust With The Independent American Party.
19. Methods For Building Trust With The Independent American Party.
20. Principle Training Techniques Used In The Independent American Party Building Programs.
21..Independent American Party Seminars.
22. Directed And Special Projects.
23. Consultation With Headquarters.
24. Working Advisory Groups.
25. One To One Consultations Advisory Groups
26. Informal Dialogue.
27. Training Of Trainers.
28. Development Of Training Manuals and Handbooks.
29. Facilitation Of Internal Discussion
30 Comparative Studies And Examples
31. Public Forums and Information Meetings.
32. Opinion Polls and Research.
33. Focus: Local, Regional And National Levels.
34. Broaden The Base: Women And Youth.
35. Women.
36. Youth.
37. Capacity and Sustainability Of The Independent American Party.
38. Member And Volunteer Recruitment: Introduction.
39..Why We Need Volunteers?
40. Why Do People Volunteer?
41. Finding Volunteers.
42. Where Do We Look?
43. How Do We Attact Volunteers?
44. Direct Ask.
45. Social Events.
46. Meetings.
47. Recrutiment Campaigns.
48. Keeping And Motivating Volunteers.
49. A Recruitment Campaign.
50. Fund Raising Introduction..
51. The Basics Of Fundraising.
52. Types Of Fundraising: Direct Donations.
53. Pass The Hat.
54. Direct Donation Campaign.
55. Fund Raising Events.
56. Selecting And Planning An Event.
57. Key To Success Will Vary With Kind Of Event.
58. A Fundraising Plan.
The Critical Role Of The Independent American Party
A central feature of any modern society is the presence of political parties. The Independent American political party is a group of citizens organized to seek and exercise power within the political system. The Independent American Party participates in the exercise of political power, whether through participation in government or by performing the role of opposition. The Independent American Party is the vehicles by which citizens come together freely to campaign for ;public office to win a majority of seats in the legislative body, to express their own interests and needs as well as their aspirations for the society in which they live. Without the Independent American Party citizens lack alternative vehicles or organization and the potential for concentrative and abuse of power is exacerbated. The Independent American Party presents to the public alternatives in government, policies and people.
The Independent American Party nominates candidates, organizes political competition, unifies portions of the electorate, translates policy preferences into public policies, and when out of power, they provide a constructive critical opposition. The Independent American Party serves two major purposes: First, it defines and expresses the group's needs in a way that the public and political system can understand. Secondly: the Independent American Party develops enough common ideas among a significant group so that they can exercise pressure upon the political system.
The Independent American Party plays a vital role in the expansion and consolidation of democracy. The country's electoral system dictates the way in which the political parties function in this country. The party system then influences the role and functions of political parties, the types of parties, and the development of strong parties.
In this country the Independent American Party is required to fulfill legal obligations for offical registration and recognition, including a minimum level of membership, written constirtution and platform, and election of party leaders. Our country has many registered parties due to factors of the system, electoral law, history, unions, religion, ethics, parties may merge or divide over time and new parties may displace older parties by attracting their supporters. The Independent American Party must be a part of this process. The growth of the Independent American Party is essential to accomplish the growth of a national majority in presidential elections. The Independent American Party in the meantime is important by affecting the balance of power in the parliamentary system, and can decide which of the larger parties will control government and choose the leaders. The Independent American Party is important because it prepresents a particular constituence because of their core beliefs.
The Independent American Party has emerged and persisted because it has fulfilled basic needs, such as identifying priorities for the legislature, identifying alternate candidates and policies, and promoting accountability of the majority. The Independent American Party is a political party that sorts out, weighs, reconciling the myriad of conflicting demands of individuals, groups, interests, communities and regions and organizes them for the contest of public office; and then serve as a link between the constituencies and the people chosen to govern. When the Independent American Party fulfills this mission well it tends to serve both a unifying and a clarifying function for our country. The Independent American Party performing these multiple tasks, including; nominating and supporting candidates for public office, contesting and winning elections, and controlling the reins of government will set it apart from other voluntary civic organizations in our country.
The Independent American Party may not fulfill the political needs of our country in the same way, or the same extent as other political parties. The Internal and External factors affect our methods and abilities. The Independent American Party is not limited by money, organizing skills, or by an inability to understand the party's role in our country. The Independent American Party has leaders and organizers who know and understand the role of political parties in our society and who are able to use modern techniques of organization, communications, fund raising and training effectively.
Our society is moving from a period of dominence by old political parties or groups. Many of the old assumptions and practices of the established political parties have to be changed if our society is to be retained. The leaders of the Indepenndent American Party have a special role to play. It is imperative that a new ethic be the guiding light that informs and inspires party leaderlsl dedicated to bring about a political change.
Characteristics Of The Independent American Party
The Independent American Party is defined by certain fundamental priciples and practices that permeate our society: A primary principle is that all persons are equal and maintain certain individual rights. Our political principles exists when citizens are able to pariticipate actively in the life of their society by exercising their individual rights....such as freedom of expression and speech, of assembly and association, of religion conscience, to petition the government, and to vote in fair elections. Another principle of the Independent American Party is that government is by the people. Legitimate political power originates with citizens and flows from the citizens to the government. The government is responsible for protecting citizen rights, and in turn the citizens grant the government temporary powers to make decisions on their behalf.
The power of the Independent American Party is limited: by the constitutionally defined framework of laws and practices that protect social and political freedom. The Independent American Party is organized to prevent one individual or institution from becoming to powerful and prevailing on all issues. The Independent American Party limits government abuses and helps the rights of individuals. The Independent American Party is inclined, organizationally and procedurally, to make decisions that benefit society at large, rather that particularly individual interests.
The Independent American Party is given the authority to make decisions through electoral mandate. In other words, electors choose party representatives. Regular elections allow competition and present alternative policies to the electors. Citizens are then able to hold Independent American Party officials accountable by having the periodic right and opportunity to vote them out of office.
Taken together, it may be said that the aformentioned principles and behaviors represent the Independent American Party ideal. The degree to which they are honored and practiced is the degree to which the Independent American Party is representative.
The "foundation first": is a motto that the Independent American leaders and organizers keep in mind as they build a successful party as all politics are local. A significant portion of our party's time, attention and money is directed to the local level. The Independent American Party strength, stability and sucesss of its candidates at every level are closely related to the number of active, enthusiastic party members and supporters at the local level. The local base of the Independent American Party must be strong if the party is to grow and succeed. Party leaders must understand the importance of local party building, act accordingly as this contributes fully to the process. If the party does not do this it will be uncompetitive and not able to assume control of government.
The Independent American Party leaders and organizers must not forget about the central importance of the individual member. Without members the Independent American Party no matter how eloquent or smart they may be are doomed to occupy the margins of our country's political life. Party leaders and organizers must not forget that ultimate policy making authority is, and should always be within membership of the party if the party is going to be genuinely representative.
Leaders and Supporters have a critical fole to play in the transition to the Independent American Party. To promote repesentatives in our country, however, the Independent American Party must be presentative themselves. If the Independent American Party does not practice and honor their representatives in their internal affairs, then they are unlikely to do so when they win elections and begin to govern. It has been said how do you reconcile succession within the nation, when you do not limit it within the party. Our party must learn to accept limited terms of party leadership then they can inculcte these expectations for the national leadership. The Independent American Party whether in power or in opposition have a duty, to support and protect values and human rights within our own organization. In fact our party can be compromised by such factors as insular management and communication structures, a lack of leadership change, opportunity, and marginalized party members. Sometimes these factors create a situation in which a few individuals dominate party affairs without proper regard for the membership to shape party's policies.
The Independent American Party's commitment to representative principles should be reflected not only in written constitution, but also in the day-to-day interaction among leaders and members. That is, the party must be committed to practicing representative behaviour. Our party will:
1. Allow members to express their views freely.
2. Promote the membership of women, youth and indigenous groups.
3. Encourage articipation by all members.
4. Be tolerant of different ideas.
5. Abide by agreed rules and procedures for decision-making.
6. Hold leladers accountable to members and supporters.
Independent American Party Organization
To succeed, the Independent American Party needs a number of attributes, including enthusiastic members, informed and committed members, and practical, innovative ideas for improving the country. All of these attributes cannot guarantee success if the party is poorly organized. If there are not discernable dicision making procedures, if people within the party do not understand their roles and responsibilities, and if communications within the party is not clear and frequent, even the Independent American Party with good ideas and well intentioned members can fail to achieve its goals. The Independent American Party must not make the mistake of devoting all of its resources and energy to short term election campaigns, rather than to building and maintaining a solid party organization. Party organization must be a priority for party leaders before issues of campaign organization are addressed.
Although the structure of the Independent American Party may vary, the organizational model will include party committees ranging from the national to the local levels. At every level, there needs to be clarity about exact rules, responsibilities and authority, in order to ensure coordination and coherence.
Independent American Party Development
In order for the Independent American Party to be effective in their interaction with their constituents and each other, we must first identify our strengths and deficiencies. Participation in the election process will bring as many challenges as it does opportunities. While an election undoubtedly would focus the Independent American Party of overall goal of attaining power in government, the development of the party's internal capacity and its ability to maximize its poteltial in an ongoing process, which must eveolve over a longer period of time. Even the Independent American Party with highly internal structures would have to recognize that the climate in which they operate could drmatically. Such a change in the status quo throws up new challenges for all involved.
The core elements of the Independent American Party development are applicable to all political parties in all situations. How these elements are adopted in the Independent American Party varies and in order to our party to be successful in achieving its objectives, it needs to address such issues as internal respresentation and party structures, candidate identification and recruitment, message development and communications. The party may have loosely defined core principles that distinguish them from their competitors, but in order to successful wse must be able to translate these principles into concrete policies that will appeal to the electorate. The ability to put our message across in a way that is meaningful and to have that very message articulated by candidates who will be perceived as being credible and as having the ability to bring the party's policies to fruition is of vital importance in the development of a positive party imge. The Independent American Party must also seek to bring its message to the widest possible audience, to do so, it involves opening its doors to other interest groups and bring in new members who will be prepared not only to buy into its philosophy but able to espouse it in a proactive way. If the Independent American Party exhibits a high livel of internal organization and efficiency it will be found easier to convince the electorate of its potential to govern effectively.
Based on the needs of the Independent American Party the stage of political transition and conditions in our country, poliitical activists are provided with the skills they require, to establish representative, accountalble, transparent and effective political party. Independent American Party development activities can be pursued in conjuction with other civil society, gorvance and election related activities. Ultimately the goal of the Independent American Party is to support the development of effective institutions and processes that contribute to a healthy and strong country.
Information and technical assistance is provided to political parties and movements. The purpose of such programs is to deepen and expand values and practices by enabling parties to plan their special role and fulfill their responsibilities in a professional, transparent and peaceful manner consistent with international standards and the laws of their respective societies.
Selecting Political Parties For Assistance
It is the core principle of the Independent American Party to work with all political parties considered viable, representative, democratic, and committed to peaceful political processes. It is not always practical or desirable to work with every single party, often because not every party will satisfy the criteria. In arriving at these judgments it is normal to consult widely with experts, analysis and practitioners both inside and outside the country. In making decisions about which political parties, movements and organizations or individuals to include in political development programs, the following criteria may be considered: prominence in politics, likely long time presence in politics, base of popular support, ability to articulate interests, needs, political commitment, acceptability of policy positions, level of internal freedom, level of political organization at the local level, receptiveness to assistance, ability to absorb assistance, need of assistance, adherence to non-violent principles.
Principle Training Techniques Used In The Independent American Party
Over many years, a range of techniques has been developed to engage political partiesdevelopment programs. Working primarily on the premise that situations are different and political development and the process in general is influenced by cultural considerations and historical events this model is considered. In the early years it involved a series of workshops and seminars where experienced political practitioners would share their experiences and advise on their perspectives of the best practices to achieve the best result.
In recent years, the opening of field offices staffed with political party experts has further strengthened party development programs and allowed for on going consultations and follow-up activities between seminars and workshops. Principle techniques used in building the Independent American Party is Multi party seminars and single party seminars, directed projects and special projects, consultations with party headquarters, party working groups, one to one advisory consultation sessions, informal dialogue, training of trainers within.
Broadly speaking there are three main spheres of political party development in which technical advice and assistance is offered: operational and structural development, election campaign techniques and political parties in office.These activities contribute to the effectiveness of the Independent American Party and are complementary of each other. The Independent American Party requires assistance under all of these headings. Proximity of an election or a change of political enviornment allows the Independent American Party to operate - an appropriate program should be tailored, in consultation with party leaders.
The Independent American Party is galvanized into action by an election - it inevitably consumes the energy of the leadership and members alike. It is the time when members are most energized, when they are most sensitive to suggestions and, unfortunately, most defensive about their behavior. While properly structured and effectively organized the Independent American Party will make a much better impact in an election campaign and achieve greater success, it has often proved difficult to have political parties pay much attention to organizational development wher there is an election on the horizon. In these situations, it is normal to offer advice and assistance in the area of elction campaign techniques with a view to addressing the more fundamental organizational issues once the election has taken place
Operational And Structural Development
The operational and structural developmnent of the Independent American Party is by far the most important area of programming and is crucial to the underpinning of the democratic process in our trnasition society. While the Independent American Party's ability to wage an effective election campaign will often address the immediate concerns of leadership and members, the capacity to organize and grow outside of the election cycle serves to create a healthy and competitive multiparty system long after program activities have ceased.
Internal party democracy goes to the core of a healthy and vibrant political party. The objective of democracy is to give people the right to choose. Through elections, they select and gain control over their political leaders. Just as citizens of a nation are entitled to case ballots in elections, so the members of the Independent American Party should be entitled to select and to reject their leaders, office-holders, and candidates for public office. While the need for internal democracy is almost universally accepted (in principle), the structure of the Independent American Party's decision making process is not always conducive to it.
Issues To Address In Operational And Structural Developments.
Membership development and recruitment, Utilization of a volunteer membership, Message development, Communications, internally and with the electorate, Media relations, National, regional, and local party structures, Broadening the party base, Creating an effective headquarters operation, Database construction, Organization of party congress or events, Issue and policy research, Opinion polling, Fundraising, Building relationships with interest groups.
Election-related Independent American Party programs address all of the activities necessary to structure and conduct an effective election campaign. The energy and activism of election season allows for greater longer-term party development by channeling the energy into building sustainable structures and processes in the party.
Effective Election Campaign Activities
Strategic planning and developing an effective campaign, Building a campaign management team and allocating responsibility, Motivitating and moblizing the party membership, Message and platform development, Communications with the electorate and voter outreach, Media relations, Candidate identification, recruitment and selection, Campaign funding and budgeting, Getting out the vote, Pollwatching, Polling.
Post-election Independent American Party Assessment
A series of "lessons learned" meetings with the Independent American Party immediately post election will be extremely valuable. For both winners and losers, there is considerable merit in a post election meeting to consider the new circumstances and the ways, if any, in which training can continue to be of benefit. It is important to react quickly post election as the new status quo can very quickly become entrenched. There is a short window of opportunity to become involved in shaping the new reality. Obviously, the mood and agenda will be fundamentally different depending upon whether the outcome was successful or unsuccessful. The worst scenario is that the Independent American Party has or is about to lose its leadership and a substantial part of its electoral base and which may therefore be facing the prospect of extinction. Learning to live with a bad election result, accepting the consequences and beginning the process of rebuilding is an important maturing experience for the Independent American Party.
Very often, the Independent American Party's preoccupation with building its organization or fighting in election campaigns may cause it to overlook the crucial issue of our party's ability to perform in congress. While distinctly different to general goverance programs, this area of programming is complementary to the important work of developing legislative capacity. The public perception and profile of the Independent American Party is greatly influenced by the performance of our party caucus or parliamentary group and individual members of congress. Political strategies adopted by parties in government and opposition usually have more of an impact on the electorate than many other activities parties engagte in outside of an election. The Independent American Party can generate a favorable impression with the electorate through an effective and credible performance in congress. A credible record of representing the interests of the electorate in a consistent manner in congress through promoting certain policy initatives in government or opposition and giving innovative and unified leadership is a strong selling point for the Independent American Party at election time.
In our country many parties have little experience in organizing their activities in congress and many members of congress are new to their role and seek advice in establishing and staffing an office and conducting constituent relations.
Programmatic activity with the Independent American Party in congress assists in the creation of a caucus structure that bests suits our party and the congressional system. Linked closely as a precursor to goverance programs, such as legislative-executive relations, oversight of the executive and effective committees the Independent American Party in congressional programs offer technical advice, assistance and oversight.
The role of parties in opposition and government, The rights and responsibilities of government and opposition, The sturcture of a parliamentary group of causus, The decision making process with a caucus, Effective use of parliamentary debating time, Policy and issue research, Effective use of limited resources, Party discipline and the role of a whip, Inter party rlations and coalition building, Constituent relations, Commujnications - caucus members, headquarters, party members, and the electorate, How best to utilize junior members - "backbenchers", Holding relationships with interest groups and civil society.
Criteria For Selecting Parties And Baseline
In choosing the Independent American Party for assistance, there is a need to assess the socio-political enviornment in our countryand to identify all democratic, nonviolent and viable political parties. The Independent American Party is fundamentally committed to the principles of democracy and in particular non-violence, gender equality, tolerllance and diversity and multi-ethnicity should work with parties that espouse substantially the same values. After careful consideration the Independent American Party should have a significant number of members who are capable of transforming the party into these criteria. It is not always practical or desirable to work with all parties in our country, often because not every party with satisfy this criteria. In arriving at these judgements it is normal to consult widely with experts, analysts, practitioners, diplomats and funding organizations both inside and outside our country.
Beginning with an inclusive approach, it is usual to narrow the targets based on a set of standards established on a case-by-case basis and reflective of political realities and resources. Is the party legally registered or authorized to engage in electoral and political processes, according to the laws and traditions of our society? Does the party appear to be sufficiently representative or popular or otherwise important to warrent inclusion in programs? Is the party formally and unequivocally, committed to fundamental democratic values, institutions and processes? Does the party, or persons associated with it have a history of engaging in (or conducting) violence as a means of pursuing ostensibly political goals? In cases where a party or individuals prominently identified with it have a history of involvement in undemocratic political activity, or violence, has the responsible leadership credibly and effectively renounced the history and committed itself to participate in, and respect the outcomes of, peaceable democratic competition?
Recognizing the complexities of political organization in our transitional society, one should operate on the basis of a flexible approach that can adapt to diverse and dynamic situations. Moreover, decisions taken are reconsidered as political events warrant. Accordingly, additional, more nuanced criteria may also be considered, including the following: If a political party does not qualify for participation in a program, are there individuals associated with the party who should nevertheless be included in programs in their individual capacity? If a political party does qualify for participation in a program, are there individuals or factions within the party who should not be included? Is it appropriiate to focus program work porimarily or exclusively on new political parties in an effort to promote equitable competition and a more genuiely competitive multiparty system?
In each case, a determination should be made on the basis of an overall assessment of these and other considerations, such as how the participation of a particular organization, group, movement or party could contribute to or detract from the overall goal of the Independent American Party and democracy.
The definition and application of the criteria in our country may be that other parties need assistance in basic organizing, communication, and planning skills; however the existence of a few parties that possess a commitment to democracy and relatively more viably than the other parties may qualify them as targets for assistance. In establishing the criteria the broad goal of supporting a competitive, multiparty system needs to be kept in mind. Even when parties manifestly fail to meet certain fundamental criteria, there is often value in developing a relationship with them that might be informal and might expressly exclude formal assistance of any nature.
Purpose And Process Of Baseline Assessments
A baseline assessment helps provide a programmatic starting point by identifying the needs of the Independent American Party. Once needs are determined, it is possible to tailor program approaches and activities. When conducted in a collaborative manner, the assessment is an opportunity to build constructive relationships within the Independent American Party. In other words, the party is involved in discussing what it needs and does not need. The process can help all concerned develop a mutual understanding of where our party is at developmentally, and where it wants to go.
To achieve a mutual understanding, it is not possible to rely solely on an assessment questionnaire. Instead, assessment needs to be conducted in a participatory manner involving party leaders and activists from different levels of the Independent American Party. Interviews with people outside the Independent American Party - journalists, academics, civic leaders, business people and labor leaders - should be conducted to providea well-rounded perspective of the Independent American Party. Ideally, the process becomes a self-assessment by the Independent American Party, where leaders and activists reflect on their situation and needs. The assessment process may include one-on-one meetings and focus group discussions over a period of time. When done systematically and purposefully, the result can be an honest appraisal of the Independent American Party situation and needs.
Baseline assessments also provide benchmarks by which the Independent American Party development can be measured. The assessment documents the conditions that existed at the launch of the assessments and can help identify appropriate indicators to the success of the program.
Considerable sophistication is required in order to make the correct decision on whether to work with the Independent American Party. The resulting baseline report in an objective, fact-based analysis which can be used as an instrument to assist in arriving at a gut level conclusion, which can then be used as a strategic planning goal. It is also usual to broaden the consultations to include local opinion to help verify assessments in order to ensure both a depth of understanding and an honest set of conclusions.
Building Trust With The Independent American Party
Methods For Building Trust With The Independent American Party
Building and maintaining trust with the Independent American Party involves several factors. Relationship-building at initial stages of contact and throughout a program can make or break the success of a program. Establishing clear expectations on both sides helps avoid minunderstanding. Most importantly, demonstrating and proving that training and assistance is in the best interest of the Independent American Party can be the best tool for continuing effective relationships.
First impressions are important - initial contacts with the INdependent American Party can be vital to future relationships. Often, these contacts are made during assessment missions before a decision is made on what method of assistance is important in our countries context. At that point, being clear on the purpose of the visit and what kinds of assistance are generally provided is crucial to future relationships. Once the Independent American Party assistance is the goal of a program, the next step in building relationships involve the baseline assessment process. These early discussions, and a genuine sense of partnership, provide a basis for jointly establishing goals of the proman (and indicators of accomplishment) that make sense to the people we are trying to help. Another significant aspect of confidence building is understanding what the Independent American Party wants and/or needs. Demonstrating the utility of participating in training goes a long way and giving careful thought to the first activities undertaken in a program is vital.
Principle Training Techniques Used in Independent American Party Building Programs
Independent American Party Seminars
Seminars and workshops play a critical role in the Independent American Party programs. They form the foundation for other activities including more day-to-day interaction within our party.
Seminars usually involve a gathering of key party activists at which a series of presentations are made on a range of topics. There are often a number of practitioners present who share their experiences with the participants. It is important to compile an agenda in a way that allows participants to test information received. For this purpose presentations should be followed by practical workshops that would allow trainees to work in small groups and apply new skills in practice.
The issue of when multiparty seminars are appropriate and when it is more effective to conduct them on the Independent American Party basis varies dependent on the program and the political enviornment. It has been shown that a multiparty session is a good confidence building measure where it is made clear to all parties what is on offer and where there is no special treatment for particular parties. However, once the more sensitive work begins it is more productive to work separately as the Independent American Party or like minded parties who are comfortable working together. This allows the participants to be more open about our party's strengths and weaknessses. At the same time, multiparty seminars with particular participants can be an excellent tool for strengthening the coalition of those parties while improving its internal communications.
While participants benefit enormously from workships and seminars, it is very useful for the Independent American Party to put some of the actual techniques into practice. For example, giving a demonstration on how to conduct a "door to door" campaign and then organizing a pilot campaign gives the Independent American Party members the "hands on" experience necessary to convince them of the potential results for our party.
Similarly, if the area of strategic planning has been covered at a seminar, our party leaders are encouraged to work to develop a draft plan, which can then form the basis of follow up activity.
Special projects need to be chosen to create a focus for our party or the participants in a program. It could be a small project such as organizing a town meeting or a much more ambitious project such as a youth rally or music festival.
In all of these activities there is a constant advisory and "hand holding" rele to be played.
Consultation With Headquarters
During the early stages of our party programs, intensive and detailed consultations with senior party officials, including general secretaries, directors of organization and communications and other party strategists, can be quite useful. As well as building relationships, it allows for a greater understanding of the problems facing our party and its capacity and willingness to address them.
In more established programs or where the development work is taking place at regional or local levels, regular consultations at headquarters level leads to greater communication and a more interactive program overall. There are also opportunities during these consultations to evaluate the impact of a program and make adjustments as necessary.
On some occasions it is often through consultations with officials at party headquarters that modest programs are carried out. Strategic advice can be given to a small group of key personnel who in turn can take action at other levels of our party.
The establishment of a working group or advisory group at a senior level in our party gives added impetus to the work at hand. It acts as a bridge between our party leadership, the institute and the grass-roots membership. It can also give more weight to the program and ensure that is more geared towards the actual requirements of our party as well as showing party members that the work has the full support of party leadership. It is useful to establish a party working group to offer advice on the overall direction and act as a liason with our party. This group can only address the broad themes, leaving the actual party specific activity be dealt with by our party organizational structure.
One To One Consultations Advisory Sessions
During the ongoing program activity, including workshops/seminars, opportunities often arise for one to one consultations. These are often with individual senior officials who have some responsibility for the development of our party. These consultations are invaluable in building strong relationships but also in ensuring that some guidance is being given in their work. Some consultations will also often involve individuals not currently participating in a program and these serve many useful purposes.
It is also useful to develop a wide range of contacts inside and outside our party during the course of a program. By engaging in an informal dialogue with political actors and the wider community, there is a much greater understanding of the political situation and the views of the main players. It is often difficult to elicit these views in more formal settings.
Informal discussions also often take place with senior party leaders in situations where it may not be appropriate for them to attend formal training sessions or where perhaps, in the early stages, they may not wish to be widely known within our party that they are receiving training.
There is a need to ensure that after a program has finished its course, the techniques and skills it has developed should be further utilized and new initiatives created and enacted to build on progress already made. In order to reach the widest possible audience within our party system, it is necessary to recruit and involve party members themselves in training colleagues.
The training of trainers technique allows for the training of key party members who then become trainers within our party. This allows for greater involvement by regional units of our party and branches. A core group of party members trained and motivated can be most effective in transferring skills to the wider membership of our party in a relatively short period of time.
Development Of Training Manuals And Handbooks
The Independent American Party wishes to develop our own training and instruction materials and seek advice from outsiders in the meantime. These locally produced manuals will be very effective in dispersing information and instructions to the widest possible audience within our party.
Facilitation Of Internal Discussion
One of the areas of greatest need in the overall development of the Independent American Party is internal democracy. Internal democracy relates not just to the election of members at different levels in our party but also to the entire decision making process and giving a greater say to grass root members. This process can be long and drawn out and it may be difficult for members to raise with the leadership. On occasions where opportunities are created to facilitate an internal discussion and also share the experiences of other circumstances, the initial steps necessary to address our party's difficulties may come just a little more easily.
Comparative Studies And Examples
One of the most effective and sensitive methods of informing and educating party leaders and members is by offering a range of comparative studies and examples. It is almost universally accepted that there is no definitive "right" way to organize our party. There are many issues which influence the operation of our party and over the years a wide range of approaches will be developed by party leaders. Being in a position to expose party activists to the varied methods of organizing raises their comfort level by allowing them to choose from various examples to create a model most suitable for their particular situation.
Public Forums and Information Meetings
There are a wide range of activities under the heading from those surrounding an election such as candidate forums and town meetings organized by the Independent American Party to other types of town meetings outside the election cycle where public opinion is tested on issues of concern. The Independent American Party is to be trained in ways to develop interaction with the public while crafting their meetings and subsequently disseminating it.
Opinion polls are a necessary tool of the Independent American Party. It is important that our party has developed a platform and message on the public's issues of main concern. In an election cycle, it is useful to have some indication of the strength of our party at different stages of the campaign. There are two main training elements in the area of polling and research - the skills necessary to compile a questionnaire, select a vote sample and train inverviewers and, of equal importance, the ability to interpret polling data and results and take the necessary action.
Polling and research are attractive to our party, but it can sometimes be a distraction when other important activities should be receiving attention. Opinion polls are no substitute for the more tedious activities such as door to door campaigning or other community interaction. Polling and research is not encouraged in the early stages of our party as a political party requires a lot of resources to be in a position to undertake such activity. Polls badly carried out because of poor methodology or improerly processed are very damaging to our party at a crictical time in its development.
Focus: Local, Regional And National Levels
A number of considerations arise in deciding whether programming should be conducted in a particular locality or region and/or at the national level. Deciding to work only at the national headquarters level should never, save in the most extreme cases, be considered an option. The size of the headquarters operation is to be quite modest and depend to a large extent on a volunteer membership. Training that is confined to the party nationally is not as effective in the real terms as bringing the message to a wider audience in the regions. A "training of trainers" program where party members are selected and trained to conduct their own training programs within our party at every level an efficient way to make a significant impact where either time or resources are at a premium.
The inherent value of building our party from the bottom up should not be overlooked. Local trainees should work their way up the chain of command to positions in party headquarters rather than brown nosers being picked for prominance.
Working out how to operate within different levels is a matter for consultation within our party. It should be borne in mind that party leaders often have a completly erroneous conception of where training can add value. Leaders are often reluctant to allow resources in the form of training out of their direct control. Maintaining clear lines of communication and expectations can alleviate territorial issues. In discussions of this kind with our party leadership, it should be understood that trained people can appear to be a threat to our party leadership. Discretion and care must always be exercised to ensure that resources are not being misdirected, perhaps at the behest of party leaderships. There should, however, be regular contact with party headquarters, keeping them informed of what is happening. In addition, our party leadership will often want to attack weaknesses rather than build on strengths. For example, if a large dynamic volunteer membership is one of the main strengths of our party and policy formulations the greatest weakness, is is often more productive to begin by working with the leadership on harnessing and focussing the efforts of the members before seeking to address the area of policy formulation though the tendency of the leadership may be at times the opposite.
There is no uniform set of guidelines to decide where training should be concentrated. The sense and judgement of individuals are important to finding the right mix of activities on the national, regional and local levels. Some other points to consider are potential logistical difficulties, available funding (regional and local programming on a large scale tends to be more expensive), level of party activist interest at each level, opportunities for working on building strengths rather than weaknesses and the level of sophistication and competence on the various levels. Obviously working with regional branches of our party on issues such as strategic planning or membership development is of little benefit if our party centrally does not have the capacity to coordinate this activity. In these types of situations it is often necessary and advisable to conduct some training and programming at national level before directing attention to the regions. On the other hand, where party leadership may seem indifferent to what is on offer, appear cynical of its worth or be incapable of having the assistance percolate down to other levels moving the focus to the lower tiers of our organization may prove vers successful. Generally speaking, the merit of using a bottom up approach outweighs the difficulties, but our party leadership need to buy into the concepts and give other units of our party the necessary encouragement and support.
The balance of our political party assistance among the national, regional and local level should be continually re-evaluated.
Broaden The Base: Women And Youth
The inclusion of all citizens into the affairs of our country is vital to the success of democracy. The provision of equal opportunity to women and young people is consistently low in our country. It is important to convey the importance of women and youthparticipation to our party, not only for its inherent democratic value but for the electoral advantages it can offer and for the assistance it provides in helping our party be successful.
Our party and our leaders need to understand the importance of the inclusion of women into our party politic. Increased women's participation results in electoral advantages and it is inherently proper to fully integrate women. Working on this requires particular emphasis on where the barriers lie for women wishing to enter politics, even as political activists. The need to be sensitive to cultural barriers is important. Too actively promoting women's involvement in politics could be seen as undermining the prevailing social culture.
Generally, specific times should be set apart for women's training. Training groups should provide a place where women feel safe and feel comfortable about getting involved. Gender balanced composition of seminar participants can be used as a means for encouraging our party to involve more women. "Democraphy of the party team should reflect the demography of voters targeted" can be a crucial argument for some party leaders.
It should be noted that the gender composition of a training team needs to be carefully considered. As a rule, women trainers should be actively sought. Concerns over cultural sensitivities should be balanced with the overriding necessity to confront the fear which exists among some men of the advancement of women in politics. Efforts must also be made to counteract the perception that it is inappropriate or unseeemly for a woman to be involved in politics.
A simple and practical way of overcoming these barriers is to get groups results oriented or focused on the benefits to our party, rather than approaching the problem from an ideological standpoint. By focusing on practical targets, and getting agreement on the desire outcomes, the role and participation of women will often follow naturally.
Political parties sometimes suffer from the public's lack of confidence, sometimes deserved. As political parties form a cornerstone of democratic siciety, this presents a problem that is difficult to address. One way to address the problem is to work with the new generation of young party activists on skills and techniques designed to create confidence in our party from the electorate. Political parties have largely failed to address citizens' concerns, which is often elxacerbated by political leadership unwilling to fully engage their constituents. Getting youth involved in the political life of our party is vital for the future prospects of democracy.
Working with youth party activists can be a way to work from the grassroots upward to affect change in our party as needed. Young political activists can also present the best opportunity to glavanize our party's outreach to the electorate. They often have fresh ideas and enthusiasm, but they have not been afforded growth opportunities by party hierachies.
In providing assistance to youth, working at local level is a practical way of gaining access. Youth tend to respond well to hands-on training and often can design and implement projects that gain the notice of party leadership, thus having the two-fold benefit of improving the party itself and opening leadership to new ideas.
The objective of a political leadership development program is to build on the existing skills and knowledge by providing young party members with training and technical advice. Each program participant will be expected to enter the program with a proposal for a concrete project aimed at strengthening our party. This action oriented approach provides opportunities for practical application of new skills. Participants are asked to commit themselves to sharing lessons learned in the program with their party colleagues. Our party will provide the participants with tips on training techniques to facilitate that process.
The first training seminar will focus on leadership, team-building and internal party communications. Subsequent training sessions will be conducted approximately every two weeks and cover the following topics: Negotiation skills: the politics of compromise, The role of our party in congress and in local government., Media relations, Public communications and Voter outreach.
Program candidates will be recruited through a rigorous and competitive application process. Application forms will be distributed within our party by internet and in person at all levels of our party. Selection of program participants is to be based on the applicants' type and length of political experience, and responses to application and interview questions. Our party will pay special attention to gender and regional balance in the selection to participants.
Independent American Party Internal Capacity and Sustainability
Independent American Party programs are undertaken with the explicit intention of developing our party's internal capacity. Creating a sustainable culture of democratic politics, beyond the mere imparting of skills, is a vital goal. The long term impact of our party programming should consistently be considered. A key issue is selecting highly motivated people with which to work and offering as much continuous and progressive training to them as possible. While our general political party programming always helps develop internal capacity, below are a few specific methods of building sustainability outright.
Training of trainers is a good model to build capacity. These programs can be focused on training of party trainers to develop training programs within our political party. The method allows experience to be passed on to trainers that can continue building capacity.
When training trainers, care must be taken to ensure that any such program is likely to lead to the desired result - that the beneficiaries of the training will use their skill within our party rather than simply using the training to enhance their career prospects generally. It is critical to select the right people whose commitment to our political party and to working in democratic politics is beyond question.
Training institutes established by our party are an excellent method of continuing to develop the internal capacity of our party.
While some financial resources are required to initiate such a venture the guaranteed return on investment makes the effort worthwhile. Our party gains confidence in itself once it begins to develop its own training initiatives. It is important that the training programs begin with training in the basic skills of organizing our party, it is important that the training program move progressively towards more focused and strategic activities as soon as practicable. The training of trainer technique provides for the training of individual party members who will continue to address the basic training needs of our party whilst allowing the field representative to concentrate on other development areas.
Introduction
A large and active membership is critical in the success of any of our party muncipal branchs. No matter what size our campaign or how large or small our campaign budget volunteers are critical. In focusing on volunteer recruitment how much of it is applicable to members.
Functions performed by volunteers include: Distribute literature, Put up posters, Phone voters and supporters, Knock on doors, Raise money, Do research, Write and design material, Office work.
People are drawn to our campaign or party because they support one or more of our policies, Friends or supporters of our candidates, They will volunteer because of social enjoyment of meeting people and being involved in something they enjoy, Political party loyalists, People volunteer because they have expectations from the opportunity such as contacts or support for a policy or project, People are looking for recognition, respect or a change of routine by volunteering.
The volunteer or membership coordinator is to be well organized, a people person, a team player, flexible and creative, friendly and outgoing.
First name universe (family and friends), Second name univerrse (associates, clubs, people interact with such as hairdressors, store keeper, baby sitter, older children's friends, church acquaintences etc.), Cold universe (Strangers who support our party).Always begin from the first universe and work your way out. Least energy for greatest return.
Many people say they never volunteer because nobody asks. Think about why people volunteer and you have a better idea how to attract them. It is not always for money.
Most effective with universe one and two. If you have 10 people in your group and each agrees to recruit 4 people from universe one and 4 people from universe 2 you have 80 new volunteers or members.
Use social events such as coffee parties. They should be fun and include a direct appeal for volunteers, including an explanation of why they are needed and what is a expected of them.
Particularly with the second universe. Formally discuss the links between our party and the group and explain the importance of volunteers in politics. "If we win you win, but we need your." These can also be held as less formal coffee party style events.
Working from hot or ward lists such as past supporters, volunteers or previously supportive groups = phone, visit or write. Invite people that have responded positively to a volunteer event planned as part of the campaign.
Keeping and motivating volunteers
Always say "thank you" (in person and in writing), Recognize their contribution = (posters, awards, social events), Always have something for them to do, stay in rough with them.
A recruitment plan
Like most things, successful member and volunteer recruitment requires planning. Make a list of some activities you could undertake to recruit volunteers. Pick three from the list and plot them on a timeline. Include activities designed to stay in touch with existing members or committed volunteers such as news letters, meetings, social events etc.
Introduction
Fund raisiing is more than raising money, it is a good means of activating and mobilizing membership. It is important to establishing fund raising as an ongoing part of our party at all levels of activities. In initial stages it is more important to start than it is to raise large sums of money.
If we do not ask we do not receive, Assign someone on our executive committee responsibility for fundraising, Be realistic in the events you hold and the targets you set, Thank donors immediately, Keep track of donors and amount donated, Have a 6 and 12 month plan.
Types of fundraising: Direct donations
Asking members, supporters, volunteers, friends for donations. Approach individuals directly and in person for donations = (large donors, candidates and their personal friends, high profile supporters, members at all levels of party.) In other words, people close to the campaign, the party or the candidate with the potential or history of being large donors. Make a list of these names. Assign the individual most likely to succeed. One with the best relationship with the potential donors (senior campaign people, candidates etc.)
Every party event is a fund raising event. Have a place for donations at the entrance to the meeting and/or have someone during the meeting ask for donations (large or small) and then just pass the hat.
Used to approach a larger number of people for small to medium size donations. More complicated and requires a great deal of work. Most will not have the time or resources so we will have to focus on the easier approaches.
These are events held to raise money for our party or campaign. Some examples = A dance, concert, t-shirt sale, auction, flea market, garage sale, bake sale, barbeque, car wash, dinners, book sales, coffee house, raffle, games...etc.
Selecting and planning an event
Know the market (know how much money people can spend), what kind of things are they likely to spend it on, know your resources, choose the date carefully, be creative and fresh with ideas, assign someone to be in charge, set up a committee, be realistic, publicity,
Key to success will vary with kind of event
Design and distribute posters/leaflets in key places, use free media, phone committee to call members, ABC's (accurate, brief, complete).
Should be simple and realistic, Set a goal for 6 12 months period, Decide on activities and events required to meet the goal, Schedule activities, Assign responsibility, Do it and have fun.