Power to the People: How to Engage Disadvantaged Communities and Drive Urban Policy Change

This project investigates how urban social justice campaigns can engage disadvantaged communities to enact progressive public policy. Working-class neighborhoods and communities of color are typically underrepresented in the political process: compared to more affluent citizens, they are less likely to vote, donate to causes, volunteer for campaigns, or attend public meetings or rallies. As a result, they have little power to influence policy decisions, which overwhelming favor wealthy and advantaged constituencies. Moreover, mainstream political strategies – focused on persuading citizens who are already engaged – often ignore disadvantaged communities, exacerbating such inequalities.

In this paper, I study ways to increase the political participation of poor and minority citizens. As a synthesis, it draws together research on social movements, community organizing, voter mobilization, civic engagement, and political persuasion. By combining this existing literature with interviews from four California case studies – a mayoral race in San Diego, a ballot proposition to raise the minimum wage in San Jose, an organizing effort to enact a living wage ordinance in Los Angeles, and an innovative voter engagement program also in San Diego – I explore how these campaigns can most effectively mobilize communities and drive policy change responsive to their needs. I then identify common themes shared by these case studies and suggest ways different social change approaches could be integrated into a combined model.