Local Art, Local Action: A Proposal for Deliberating on and about Main Street

In every campaign, politicians make promises. They spell out their hopes and dreams for their constituents and describe the dystopia that would exist should their opponent be elected instead. With campaign speeches characterized by lofty promises, buzz words, and vague generalities, deliberative opportunities exist for clarification and complexification of candidate (and party) platforms. I propose a unique possibility for local politics that would demystify the electoral process and increase civic engagement by providing community-level opportunities to participate in platform-formation, information-seeking, and deliberation. Specifically, I propose that local government host an issue-raising arts festival, which would lead to an online deliberative forum.