Polithon

Polithon believes in fostering civic-mindedness and responsibility among citizens and leaders, while ensuring the policymaking process is more inclusive, interactive, and innovative. We seed post-partisan policy solutions by crowd-sourcing the best ideas millennials have to offer. The Problem: By 2020, Generation Y will make up 40% of the voting public. While Harvard polls suggest they believe strongly in community service, 41% believe they don’t have a say in what the government does, thus turning them away from public service, policy engagement, and even voting. Yet their potential is enormous and is going untapped. The Solution: Through an innovative process of participatory democracy, called a polithon, we empower the current generation beyond hashtag activism, re-investing them in civic engagement. A polithon applies a modified version of a tech hackathon to policy, gathering a diverse group of selected millennial “PolicyDisruptors” (PDs) over 2 days to debate and discuss a challenging policy issue with the goal of finding a solution. The result is a formal policy paper developed by engaged, young citizens that can be pushed out and acted upon. End Goal: Polithon’s ultimate goal is to empower millennials, especially those from minority communities, to have a clear and strong voice in the policymaking process. We are strengthening representative democracy ensuring Generation Y is part of the conversation from the very local to the global level, while also adding fresh perspectives and bringing innovative solutions to the table. The end result will be increased civic engagement once they understand the power of their collective voice and active participation. By 2020, millennials will make up over 40% of the voting population, and Polithon wants them civically engaged and voting at a rate we haven’t seen before.