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8. BUILDING YOUR PARTY PROFILE
Your party needs to become familiar to the people in the community. Members and leaders
must be active and deal with the challenges that face the community so people can see that
this is what the party is for. As a local politician you must meet with people and get to
know them. This process, in return, will let them get to know you, who you are, and what
your views and beliefs are. It helps them identify you with your party.
Residents can get to know your party through media, but at the local level that is often a
very limited option. A party’s strength and potential to grow and mobilize support
will depend on how active and successful you are in reaching people and building
confidence and support. That is what builds a long-term perspective into your party profile.
You can reach people directly and indirectly. The important thing is that you keep in touch
and communicate continuously – not just once or twice and not only during election
campaigns.
There are many ways one can get in contact with people directly. Door-to-door canvassing,
street meetings, forums, information tables at shops or events, and handing out
pamphlets are some good examples.
Most people belong to some organization, such as a church, a sports club or something
similar. You should make contact with these organizations, and communicate with them. It
is a good way of creating a network for gathering information about people’s thoughts on
different issues and challenges. Also, such a network is a very valuable channel when you
want to get a message across to many people quickly.
It is important that people see party activists and leaders as ordinary people that have been
given the trust and responsibility to represent them. A good politician needs to be a good
listener, to be interested and to be able to answer questions, explain issues and handle
criticism in a constructive way.
Your party’s aim is to grow and become stronger and all activities should therefore be
planned with the following questions in mind:
How can we reach new groups and not just people that are already strong party
supporters?