102738 Australian Politics and Active Citizenship Spring 2020 Assessment Task 3: A Proposal for a Campaign Write a short proposal (750 words, 25%) for a campaign on a social issue of recent or current public significance. Note carefully the criteria for selecting your campaign issue below. If your proposal uses sources that require referencing, you will need to use the Harvard StyleGuide linked at the WSU library site here: https://library.westernsydney.edu.au/main/sites/default/files/pdf/cite_Harvard.pdf Due midnight, Tuesday October 6 Background: In Week 7 we considered the role of social movements which operate outside and beyond the formal processes of representative democracy and public policy. We noted that social movements commonly: * focus on issues that are not well addressed by current government public policy * address the needs and concerns of outsiders or minorities or people or other living creatures unable to speak for themselves (or inanimate objects of concern, as in environmental campaigns) * aim to focus or arouse broad public concern * pursue non-violent strategies, even where they encourage civil disobedience or ‘passive resistance’ While they often involve lobbying politicians and other public figures, such campaigns are rarely confined to lobbying of this kind. They tend to have a broader aspiration to reach out to the wider citizenry. As such, they could be considered exercises in ‘active citizenship’ in the sense intended by the title of this unit. The task: Your proposal should do three key things. You may want to divide it into these three headings: 1. You should explain the purpose and goals of the campaign: what is the key social issue at stake? Why does it matter? What other activities are currently being undertaken (or were taken in the past) to pursue these issues, and how does your campaign intend to add to or improve upon those? 2. You should suggest how the campaign might reach out to people and publicise itself. Are you proposing to organise public rallies or demonstrations, or other visible public activities that might draw attention to the cause? If so, how might such activities work, and what do you want participants to do? How do you intend to reach out through ‘mainstream’ and other media, including social media? 3. You should identify how you might determine after the event if the campaign has been a success. How can you assess whether you achieved your goals? What would success look like? Criteria for identifying a campaign: It should be a manageable campaign that could be directed on a local or national scale by a group of civil society activists, broadly on the model of a social movement as discussed in week 7’s topic. It should not exactly duplicate an existing real-world campaign (so far as you’re aware), but could ‘spin off’ from one. The issue should be an actual issue. You should be imagining yourself to be a member of the campaign’s leadership. Note: you do not need to create an actual campaign! Examples of possible campaign issues: * questions of equity and justice in policing, following the example of the recent Black Lives Matters movements across the world * some aspects of the current pandemic crisis (eg shift workers, social housing, public health, community care for the elderly etc) * a climate-change related issue, but at a local/national level (eg awareness-raising, campaigning against a specific source of carbon emissions etc) * another environmental issue (eg plastic bags, endangered habitats) * an issue affecting young adults (eg drug awareness and safety at festivals, young people’s mental health, shift-work) Note that you are playing the role of the campaign manager for the purposes of this assessment. It is not necessary that the campaign reflects your own personal views. Note that your proposed campaign does not have to have any particular political orientation. Nor do you have to be an active partisan for this issue in real life. However, you need to be aware of University policies on respect and inclusion, and your campaign cannot denigrate or discriminate against people.