Participatory Democracy

What Cannot Be Unlearned: Defense Of The Bolivarian Revolution

May 14, 2026 Cira Pascual Marquina, Resumen English. Strategize! Bolivarian Revolution, Participatory Democracy, US Imperialism, Venezuela

I was recently in an assembly in the west of Caracas where communards were debating how to prioritize scarce resources. The discussion was not easy. People disagreed about whether to invest first in a water system, a productive initiative, or repairing a community space. Voices overlapped at times, arguments were made and remade, and decisions did not come quickly. From the outside, it might look like a routine and even tedious meeting. From within, it is very much something else: a collective effort to think through material life under pressure.

Kentucky City’s Unusual Experiment In Citizen-Led Governance

April 13, 2026 Anabel Peterman, Next City. Create! Citizen Assemblies, City Council, Kentucky, Participatory Democracy

Public trust in government is near historic lows. But Americans’ trust in their local government far outweighs trust in the federal government. It’s been this way since the mid-2000s, when the State of the Nation Project began keeping track. Standing on the sidelines of Kentucky’s first civic assembly – and one of the first carried out anywhere in the country – the palpable excitement I saw in that conference room was a far cry from the profound polarization, distrust, skepticism, and fatigue driving American political disengagement.

Venezuela: When The Opposition Calls For ‘Free’ And ‘Fair’ Elections, What Do They Mean?

March 19, 2026 Yader Lanuza, Popular Resistance. Strategize! Bolivarian Process, Democracy, Elections, Neoliberalism, Participatory Democracy, Socialism, Venezuela

Since Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999, the US has attacked the Bolivarian Revolution in multiple ways, including through propaganda that categorize it as “authoritarian,” “unfree,” and “undemocratic.” This US propaganda assault is intended to dictate what should be done in Venezuela, including a return to “democracy,” with “free” and “fair” elections. Emboldened by the US military attack on Jan. 3rd, and relying on the US propaganda assault, the Venezuelan opposition has launched an aggressive move to seize control of the state by seeking concessions from the Bolivarian government to purportedly ensure “democracy” through “free” and “fair” elections that guarantees “equal” political participation for all political parties. But what does the opposition mean by “equality,” “fairness,” and “democracy”?

Bronx Project Sets New Standard For Community-Controlled Development

December 10, 2025 Oscar Perry Abello, Next City. Organize! Local Economy, New York City (NYC), Participatory Democracy, Urban Planning

Located in the Kingsbridge Heights section of the Bronx, the 570,000 square-foot Kingsbridge Armory was said to be the largest armory in the world when first completed in 1917. Above its columnless, 180,000 square-foot main drill hall, the vaulted ceiling peaks at around 120 feet. Two 140-foot tall headhouse towers flank the main entrance on Kingsbridge Road, giving the building its castle-like appearance. After the National Guard vacated the armory in 1994, the building reverted to city ownership two years later, and has sat mostly vacant ever since.

Cuba’s Participatory Path In A Time Of Economic Siege

November 26, 2025 Isaac Saney, Resumen English. Strategize! Cuba, Economic Blockade, Economic crisis, Participatory Democracy

Amid one of the most severe economic moments since the triumph of the Revolution—and under the weight of a suffocating, ever-expanding U.S. imperial siege—Cuba is attempting something that remains almost unthinkable in the so-called advanced capitalist democracies: it is involving its citizenry directly, consciously, and systematically in charting the country’s economic future. While the wealthy western nations increasingly marginalize their own working populations, Cuba insists that the resolution of the crisis must be a collective, participatory, and profoundly democratic undertaking.

We Need A Pro-Democracy Environmental Movement

June 29, 2025 Khalil Shahyd, Next City. Strategize! Democracy, Environmental Justice, Environmental Movement, Participatory Democracy

Few people outside of Memphis, Tennessee, have heard of Boxtown, a community of about 3,000 residents in the city’s southwest corner. Founded in 1863 by formerly enslaved Black Americans, Boxtown has a long history of resisting environmental injustices, from polluting industries to toxic infrastructure, that have worsened health outcomes and lowered life expectancy. Today the community is at the center of a growing fight over the future of our democracy and the role of technology and technocrats in deciding for us what constitutes progress and good governance. When residents learned that xAI, a company led by Elon Musk, planned to install the “world’s largest” supercomputer in their neighborhood — without public input or transparency — they mobilized.

This Is What Democracy Looks Like

May 15, 2025 Kahlil Shahyd, Resilience. Strategize! climate crisis, Democracy, Environmental Movement, Participatory Democracy

The community of Boxtown in southwestern Memphis, Tennessee, has long been accustomed to fighting for its rights. Founded in 1863 shortly after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, this neighborhood of 3,000 people has a long history of battles against the unjust siting of polluting industries, which have increased residents’ health risks and lowered life expectancy. And today, the community is at the center of a growing fight between the future of our freedoms and technocrats. In June of 2024, Boxtown residents discovered that xAI, an artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk, intended to locate the “world’s largest” supercomputer in their community—without environmental reviews or community outreach.

Plenums In The Post-Yugoslav Space

April 22, 2025 Yavor Tarinski, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Organize! Community Assemblies, History, Participatory Democracy, Serbia

We see that in different temporal and spatial realities, in moments of social upheaval, that societies begin to move and self-organize. There is a common trait that often connects such experiences – the emergence of grassroots institutions that allow for direct participation of the citizenry. These reflect what CLR James has termed as universal sentiment towards direct democracy. Such democratic institutions emerged during the French Revolution in the form of sectional assemblies, in the heyday of the Haitian Revolution as organs of the people, in the early stages of the Russian Revolution as soviets, throughout the Spanish Revolution in the shape of popular committees.

Neighborhood Renewal By Germantown Residents, For Germantown Residents

March 1, 2025 Courtney Duchene, Next City. Create! Affordable Housing, Development, Participatory Democracy, Philadelphia

Jordan Parisse-Ferrarini has long been entrepreneurial. He learned it from his mother, who was quick to pick up a side hustle — starting a fruit stand, selling makeup door-to-door, selling kitchen products at markets — to help support her family when he was growing up in Mt. Airy and Germantown. So, it felt natural when, together with his mother and siblings, he founded a company focused on home repairs. They called it Handyman Wizards at first, then Ferrarini Kitchens, Baths and Interiors. A skilled carpenter, he got his electrician’s license, his realtor’s license, and then earned a construction management certificate.

Venezuelan People, Main Foundation Of The Revolutionary Process

February 1, 2025 Alejandra Garcia, Resumen English. Create! Communes, Infrastructure, Participatory Democracy, Venezuela

Venezuela is undergoing a period of profound social transformation, working toward the creation of a society focused on development, self-sustainability, independence, and sovereignty, all while navigating the challenges posed by foreign hostilities, coercive measures, and misinformation campaigns. In this process, community participation plays a crucial role, as it is the key to driving meaningful change and fostering a sustainable future. In this context, on Sunday, Venezuela will hold a historic election unlike any other in the world.

Historical Block Conference Proposals To Help Economic Transformation

November 17, 2024 María Eugenia Rodríguez, Orinoco Tribune. Create! Finance and the Economy, Participatory Democracy, Socialism, Transformation, Venezuela

The vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, reported that the proposals coming out of the Great Congress of the Bolivarian Historical Block will help in the construction of the economic transformation program that Venezuela requires. During her speech at the opening ceremony of the Congress, Thursday, November 15, at the Convention Center in Simón Bolívar Park in La Carlota, Caracas, the Venezuelan vice president also highlighted the over 100 proposals that had been submitted. “I welcome these more than 100 proposals that have been raised … because they will help us to build the economic transformation program that Venezuela needs, in order to become a powerful country,” she said.

How Cities Can Bring Some Humanity To The Criminal Legal System

October 26, 2024 Erica Perry, Next City. Create! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Democracy, Legal System, Participatory Democracy

Last month, the state of Missouri executed 55-year-old Marcellus Williams, who spent two decades in prison, despite prosecutors’ efforts to overturn his conviction for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle. The victim’s family and the St. Louis county prosecuting attorney’s office joined Williams’ family, faith leaders and thousands of community members in asking decision-makers to spare his life. But neither their pleas nor revelations of mishandled evidence and racially biased jury selection were enough to outweigh a legal system with disdain for human life. This pattern of unjust sentencing to death is true across America.

Municipalism, Economic Development, And Participatory Democracy

October 23, 2024 Austin Cole, Black Agenda Report. Create! Democracy, Organizing, Participatory Democracy

In this first part of the conversation, Nick lays out his thoughts on a large range of topics: definitions of economic development and how to think about expanding it to serve all people in a more holistic manner; the fallacy of jobs-only economic development programs and measurements; radical municipalism that can form and utilize people-centered institutions; what true participatory democracy might look like; how to make the public sector work for “the people” and why organizers should get involved in local/municipal governance ; and governing from a place of radical inclusiveness, collective wisdom, and a shared responsibility.

Assemblies Can ‘Make The Public A Formidable Force’

October 3, 2024 Ed Sykes, The Canary. Organize! Neoliberalism, Participatory Democracy, People's Assemblies, United Kingdom (UK)

Assemble is a group working to set up local assemblies around Britain. Its aim is for ordinary people to deliberate on important local, national, and international issues, and on the potential solutions to them. Then, delegates would come together at a House of the People. The launch of this house took place in August, and you can see the Canary‘s full, first-hand report on it here. On 23 September, Assemble spokesperson Maddison Wheeldon delivered a statement outside parliament. She highlighted “five urgent political priorities” that people around the country had decided on at the launch. Having stood as an independent candidate in Warrington North during the general election and organised a local assembly, she’s committed to helping ordinary people decide their own fate via assemblies.

Arizona’s Abortion Rights Showdown

August 18, 2024 Alexandra Jacobo, Nation of Change. Strategize! Abortion, Arizona, Participatory Democracy, Reproductive Rights

The fight for reproductive rights in Arizona has reached a critical turning point as Proposition 139, a proposed constitutional amendment to secure abortion rights, will be on the ballot this November. The initiative’s path to the ballot is marked by a record-breaking signature collection effort, reflecting widespread public support amid a national landscape of increasing restrictions on abortion access. Arizona has long been a battleground for abortion rights, with its laws reflecting the broader national struggle over reproductive health. The state’s history includes an 1864 territorial statute that banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, a law that was reinstated in 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

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