How to be a politically engaged citizen from abroad?
June 6, 2022 4:56 AM Subscribe
I (US citizen) emigrated out of the US to an EU country last year. It's probably 50/50 whether my spouse and I will ever be long-term residents in the US in the future. However, I still have strong ties to the US and to my home state of California and I want to remain an engaged citizen. Assuming you're not a zillionaire, a lot of advice for effective individual political action focuses on local-level involvement and outreach but that's harder to do from a distance. In addition to remaining an active voter how can I stay engaged with state and national politics from abroad?
I'm in a similar situation -- US citizen living abroad for an extended period.
To some extent I've sort of just had to accept that the kinds of activism I consider most effective -- local organizing and community involvement -- just aren't really possible for me to do remotely, and making peace with that. Instead, I try to be involved in local efforts in the place where I'm living, to the extent I'm able.
But there are some things I still try to do. I have a friend from school who is doing local activism in my hometown, so I follow her on social media and spread info to my friends and family who are still living there. I vote -- not in every single category, but on the big issues. I get email updates from the local paper and write letters/emails to relevant people when there's an issue I feel qualified to give my opinion on -- for example, something related to one of the schools I attended growing up.
It's a funny feeling -- I still feel a certain amount of attachment and responsibility to the place where I grew up, but also recognize that my influence there is limited (as it probably should be!) since I'm not living there and haven't lived there for nearly a decade at this point.
posted by mekily at 8:21 AM on June 6, 2022
To some extent I've sort of just had to accept that the kinds of activism I consider most effective -- local organizing and community involvement -- just aren't really possible for me to do remotely, and making peace with that. Instead, I try to be involved in local efforts in the place where I'm living, to the extent I'm able.
But there are some things I still try to do. I have a friend from school who is doing local activism in my hometown, so I follow her on social media and spread info to my friends and family who are still living there. I vote -- not in every single category, but on the big issues. I get email updates from the local paper and write letters/emails to relevant people when there's an issue I feel qualified to give my opinion on -- for example, something related to one of the schools I attended growing up.
It's a funny feeling -- I still feel a certain amount of attachment and responsibility to the place where I grew up, but also recognize that my influence there is limited (as it probably should be!) since I'm not living there and haven't lived there for nearly a decade at this point.
posted by mekily at 8:21 AM on June 6, 2022
If you are interested in taking the most direct action possible to support democracy at home, I second littlegreen's suggestion about Dems Abroad. I'd say about 90% of their activities concern supporting voting access for Americans abroad, mixed with events like speaker series, quiz nights, etc. It's a good way to stay involved and has very tangible results, even if it's just ("just") helping folks get registered. With margins in so many local races being so tight, nabbing a few extra hundred voters really can be a huge deal.
Our Revolution (spun out of the original Bernie Sanders campaign) might also still have some active international chapters, though a cursory search of their site isn't turning up much.
The Republican equivalent of DA was disbanded several years ago, so to my knowledge no comparable center-right org exists at the moment (beyond a SuperPAC that sort of grew out of Republicans Abroad, to which I will not link, but AFAIK it doesn't offer the kind of direct citizen involvement you seem to be looking for).
posted by peakes at 9:43 AM on June 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Our Revolution (spun out of the original Bernie Sanders campaign) might also still have some active international chapters, though a cursory search of their site isn't turning up much.
The Republican equivalent of DA was disbanded several years ago, so to my knowledge no comparable center-right org exists at the moment (beyond a SuperPAC that sort of grew out of Republicans Abroad, to which I will not link, but AFAIK it doesn't offer the kind of direct citizen involvement you seem to be looking for).
posted by peakes at 9:43 AM on June 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by littlegreen at 6:03 AM on June 6, 2022 [5 favorites]