Presentation at the Democratizing Democracy Virtual Conference sponsoered by Progressive Coders Network

1. A Privacy-Protected Social Network
for Civic Action
(george@civ.works)

2. • Thank you Progressive Coders Network
Pamela, Stephen, Joe, Rapi (emeritus)
and all!
• The importance of hubs –support and
efficacy!

3. What is civ.works
• A Project of Civic Works, a 501 c3 Non-
profit org
• Privacy-protected, advertising-free subscription-based
Social platform built for civic action and education
• Launched Feb 14, 2017
• Beyond Resistance and Political Parties

4. Key civ.works thinking
• In an informed, educated, and engaged
society –democracy (not plutocracy) would
thrive.
• Citizenship is not simply being born at a
specific range of latitudes and longitudes.

6. Why civ.works
• Key Concepts
– The concentration of wealth and power threatens
democracy.
– We are divided and conquered.
– We must engage the center
• “I don’t have time to be involved.”
• “Politics are hateful and toxic –I don’t want to be involved.
• “I know things aren’t good –however I don’t know how to be
effective.”
• “I signed the petition –isn’t that enough?”
– Non-partisan –solution-oriented.
• We cannot reject ideas purely on the basis of political ideology
– ACA is an example –initially a GOP/Heritage concept.

7. Background and Context

8. 1960’s: Civil Rights, Women, Labor, Peace
Movements

9. WTF?
• When a party represents the interest 5-
10% of the population –why are
elections so close?

10. 1970’s: The Lewis Powell Memo

11. 1970’s: The Lewis Powell Memo

12. 1970’s: The Lewis Powell Memo
• Brilliant document which defined the conservative machine
– ALEC (The American Legislative Exchange Council)
• Stand Your Ground, Voter Suppression, “Right to work”
– Think Tanks (Heritage, Heartland, CATO, PNAC, Hoover)
• Climate change denial
– Media consolidation
– Academic funding –more conservative representation
– Reagan and “Trickle Down Reaganomics”
• Destroy Unions
• Concentrate Wealth (and power)

18. “Trickle-down Reaganomics”
• Mass fraud perpetrated by the obscenely
wealthy.
– Give your money to them –then you get rich!

19. 1980’s Reagan

21. Citizens United v. FEC

22. Social Media, Behavioral Science and
Politics

24. Mercer/Cambridge Analytica/Facebook

26. Countervailing the Powell Machine
• Issue-focused and political advocacy groups
• React/Resist bad policy
– Greenpeace, NARAL, NOW, 350.org, Black Lives Matter, Indivisible,
Action Group Network, Rootstrikers, Sierra Club, United We Dream,
Color of Change, Moms Demand Action, Ceasefire, Everytown, ACLU,
Southern Poverty Law Center, Planned Parenthood, RISE, Moms
Rising, Common Cause, PFLAG, Women’s March, League of
Conservation Voters, Move On, Healthcare for All…
• Political
– OFA, Our Revolution, Democracy for America, Onward Together, PDA,
Wellstone, Emerge, Emily’s List, Rise to Run, Working Families…
• Labor
– SEIU, AFSCME, IBEW, AFL-CIO, Teachers, Nurses …

27. Tres Amigos
• What do you get when you cross a Virginia Tech.
youthfully exuberant activist, a cranky old man and a
CalTech trained mathematician concerned with the
corrupting influence of money and the demise of
democracy?

29. civ.works: the democracy machine
• Started as a concept “SmartALEC or People’sALEC”.
• Sustained, Meaningful Civic Action.
• Eliminate organizational boundaries.
• Civic Action Aggregation and Distribution*
– 1,000’s of Local, Regional, State, National, International
– From organizations addressing climate action, retirement security,
peace, education, voter rights, civil rights, justice system reform,
healthcare, reproductive rights, economics, gun violence prevention,
immigration reform, DACA and more.
• Meaningful actions –not “Mitch McConnell just sneezed! –
sign this petition and send us money”
*Action Alliance and OSDI –standard for action/event exchange

32. Sustained, Meaningful Civic Action

33. Sustained, Meaningful Civic Action

34. Sustained, Meaningful Civic Action
• “Spectrum of Civic Actions”
– Town hall meetings
– Candidate debates
– Letters to the Editor
– Elected official communications (tweets, email, letters,
calls, office visits)
– Meetings and Rallies
– Issue education,
– Model legislation
– Campaign volunteers
– Run for office

35. Sustained, Meaningful Civic Action
• Action – Subscriber matching:
• Subscriber chooses issues they are focused
upon and their zip code.
– Timely actions appear in their civ.works “activity
feed” or,
– The subscriber can receive them via email.
• Our subscriber can then perform an action
and mark it as complete

36. Sustained, Meaningful Civic Action
Issue Categories: Criminal Justice, Economics, Education, Elections/Voting Rights,
Environment, Equality, Government, Gun Control, Health Care, Immigration,
Infrastructure, Reproductive Rights, Animal Welfare, Global Peace.

37. Gamify for “center” –Digital Currency

41. Media Partnerships

42. On civ.works
• Model law and policy (Public Leadership Institute,
State Innovation Exchange, Represent.us)
– Anti-corruption, Transparency, Education, Environment,
Immigration, GVP, Health, Public Safety, Reproductive
Rights, Taxation, Voting/Elections, Economics and more
• Civic and issue education (1-2 minute films)
– How to attend a townhall
– How to write a Letter to the Editor
– Elected official communication
– The legislative process

43. 2018 Engineering Priorities
• “SmartAlec”
• NewsWorks
• TownWorks
• Mobile
• Core Improvements

44. 2018 Engineering Priorities
• “SmartAlec”
– An indexed, accessible database of model
law, legislation and citizens initiatives
• State Innovation Exchange
• Public Leadership Institute
• Represent US

45. 2018 Engineering Priorities
• “NewsWorks”
– Trust rating system for news through potential
partnerships with
• Politifact
• Snopes
• The Trust Project
• ProPublica

46. 2018 Engineering Priorities
• “TownWorks”
– A private virtual space where a subscribing
elected member or agency can interact with
only their verified constituents
– Upcoming issues, votes and schedule
– Constituent polling, sentiment and comments.
• Evolve toward Participatory Budgeting

47. 2018 Engineering Priorities
• Mobile Platform
– Key civ.works features using iOS (apple) and
Android (google) mobile phones.
• Core Improvements
– Continue to improve our core Web offering –
stability, security, performance and
experience.