Policy Reform as a Tactic to Build a Healthy Democracy
Policy change should be seen as a means for underrepresented communities to increase participation and representation in government. It is a tool to build community power, to actualize true democracy. Too often, though, we funders—and as a result, our grantees—become so distracted by the light of policy wins that we forget to shift our gaze to the larger victories that these reforms make possible. Instead, the emphasis on policy reform can cause funders to flit from one issue campaign to the next. Funding priority is given to each succeeding policy effort, with little to no resources available for implementation of the last successful issue campaign.
