Activists across a number of contexts speak to the importance of infiltrating the political system in order to move their agendas forward. In Northern Ireland, Claire Bailey of the Green Party, notes the importance of putting forward political candidates who represent perspectives that members of the community do not generally see in government – for instance, politicians addressing issues of the working class.

Also in Northern Ireland, civil society activists Eamon Rafner and Andy Pollack emphasize that entering the political arena is a requirement for scaling up. They give the example of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition: this community-based organization had its roots in women’s grassroots activism of the 1970s and 1980s but was formed explicitly as the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition and entered the political sphere in the mid-1990s. 

In the United States, Black Lives Matter activists state that real change comes from working to enact legislation - protests alone are insufficient to create change. In one activist’s words: “We can protest something...but unless we actually have legislative change, by enlisting and inviting our own candidates to run for particular offices, it’s just a futile [effort].” Likewise, in Israel, one feminist organizer notes that a key aspect of their organization’s work is trying to get women represented in local and regional government in order to create systemic change. Saviona Rotley also points out the work Women Waging Peace in Israel has done to advocate for change through political channels: as she states, “We came to the Knesset [Parliament] every week…and also we took part in discussions in different committees in the Knesset.”  

Finally, Eamon Rafner and Andy Pollack, practitioners in Northern Ireland, note that for civil society to scale its impact, it is necessary to gain support from key government officials. This is illustrated by the example of cross-community educational initiatives, which were funded by the EU and not the British/Irish governments. Although the programs were popular, without support from the Department of Education to continue funding this once EU grants ran out, the programs ended. This shows the need not only to infiltrate the political system but to do so at the highest levels in order for programs that already have support to scale and broaden their impact.

Challenges you may encounter using this tool

• A major drawback of working within the political system is managing the election cycle. If organizational leaders are always focusing time and energy on the next election or campaign, it can be hard to make progress in other arenas. 

• Administration turnover, when a politician is voted out of office or decides to retire, can result in setbacks and substantial losses in time and resources as it can take quite a long time to build up individual relationships with politicians before they are willing or ready to support activists.

• Community based organizations may find it challenging to work with the political system as policy influence takes substantial time and resources they may not have available. Organizations considering scaling in this fashion should carefully determine which level of government (local, regional, national) they can meaningfully influence and analyze the strength of members’ existing ties to political actors.

• Political parties can be extremely powerful entities, and may undercut movements and their leadership when they feel threatened. In Northern Ireland, community based organizations could be ostracized from political circles or defunded for not endorsing one of the two primary political (and also central conflict) parties. This dynamic may force an organization to take sides in a conflict or undermine its own values in ways that ultimately detract from its aims.