A common complaint among many people is that government, politicians and government entities are not responsive to the needs and concerns of average, ordinary citizens. That there are no easy, direct routes for ordinary people in order to have meaningful communications and relationship with government and the people who run it.

An initiative I wrote about a while ago called Government 2.0 is an example of a massive effort on the part of government to directly engage citizens through the creative and innovative use of social media such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, and other web 2.0 technologies. I’ve been wading into the pool of government 2.0 initiatives the past few months and have found some very fascinating stuff. On the surface, a lot of it seems to be good, ready access to officials. The true test of whether or not these efforts are sincere and truly an honest effort to engage citizens, is if average, ordinary folks who wish to be engaged with government can actually engage government using these tools.

This compilation of resources combine my interests in new media technology and citizen-centered political advocacy. Reading about, exploring, and using these resources have been educational to me in learning how to be an effective advocate, how best to harness the latent power of ordinary citizens for social and political change, and what tools are available on the Internet to help an individual be an active, engaged citizen.

I first heard about this book in an Open Left blog diary by John Emerson and was immediately intrigued by Walter Karp’s unconventional views and his conclusions on the political behavior of political parties and politicians.

Pundit Chris Cilizza pooh-poohed the idea of the “Rise of Independents” in this Washington Post article.

Despite the reported increase of Americans self-identifying as independents according to the latest poll results Cilizza decides to throw some rain on independents’ parade by saying:

Before we get too far down that road, it’s important to remember that talk of a third party and the reality of it are too far different things.

I got this in my e-mail inbox today from blogger and CUIP independent activist Nancy Hanks. Although I am not a member of CUIP, I fully support and respect their efforts to organize and serve as a valuable resource to political independents nationwide.

Nancy accurately observes that independent voters and their perspectives are not being represented accurately — or at all — in the mainstream media. There are a lot of polls out there mainly concerned about the critical independent vote in the upcoming mid-term elections. Yet these polls are being interpreted by media outlets without comment and without input from “on-the-ground” independents.

The essay below is the one attempt to reclaim the narrative in favor of independents active in the CUIP networks and in the independent movement. The author, Jackie Salit, is the president of IndependentVoting.org.

I have my own thoughts on this and will write more later. I am publishing Salit’s essay in full.

John Emerson has just posted an excellent piece over at the Open Left blog called “What is Populism and Why are Democrats Afraid of It?”

It is a capsule history lesson on populist influences on the Democratic Party from the post Civil War period up to the 1970s and how populism as a political philosophy and an organizing principle has been marginalized in the Democratic Party since then.

In The Tea Party Movement: A Populist Potential, I first explored the possibility of a cooperative effort by activists from the Left and Tea Party activists on the Right. I made the argument that something like that happening may not be as far fetched as it might sound. The Poli-Tea blog took the question further in a series of posts and a fascinating discussion ensued in the comments section.

I am a registered independent because I feel neither of the two major parties truly represents my interests. Absent a strong third party movement, the best thing voters who are fed up with the status quo can do is to take the reins and be active and engaged participants in the civic arena and to make their voices heard so they cannot be ignored. In short, be active, engaged constituents.

As a liberal I am quite happy when I see this type of civic engagement among ordinary people and voters when they come out in force in support of things I care about such as the public option in healthcare or when they take a critical eye to the goings on in Washington DC and expose corruption and betrayals of Progressive interests by legislators who claim to represent the Progressive point of view.

However, the Left does not have a monopoly on civic engagement. Conservatives and Libertarians have as much right as I do to take the reins of asserting their fundamental rights and to make their case by being active in the public sphere. Thus, despite my disagreements with them on ideological and policy grounds, I can’t help but notice how effective the Tea Party movement has been at getting the attention of the Establishment and the nation at large.

This is a list of actions to take and organizations to join if one is interested in transforming American politics from two-party dominance. This list is pretty much one individual’s perspective—mine. I am sure others will have points to disagree with and will have items to add or subtract. I made this list primarily as a mental exercise to help myself think through some of the issues one faces as a citizen interested in participatory democracy and who finds the current political choices in mainstream American politics lacking.

This list is not meant to be exhaustive or comprehensive. It is designed as a starting point for discussion on answering the question “What can an individual DO about it?”

For background: read this first [So You Want To Form A New Party? Hmmm, Come With Me]

The blog post above got me thinking about the best way to focus my political energies as someone who is dissatisfied with American politics as it is run by the two major parties. I’ve been a strong critic of the two major parties the past several years in my blogs. The post made me think about what I can do—as in concrete action—about my dissatisfaction with the two major parties.