What is the first step to working your way up the political ladder?

Question

How does a person get into politics if their family is not?

How do you break in and work your way up?

Where do you start? I thought it was with local schools, or do you just put your no name out there and campaign for local elections?

Really....I'd like to know...where do you start if you don't have a family name established in politics...?

Answer 1

contact the local office of your political party. volunteer to work for someone or some issue. go to meetings.

Answer 2

Volunteer for the candidates/party that you agree with and are a member of (or will be as soon as you are 18). You do the grunt work, pound the pavement, help get names on the petitions, stuff envelopes, whatever needs to be done. That is the first step, you just have to be available to do just about everything. You do that for as many years as it takes. You can even use that for various volunteer credits, civics credit, whatever you need to apply it to in school. Also, in college, study government or law or something that will give you the educational background needed to be a good representative of the people. At some point there will be a minor elected post that they need a candidate for, or you could express an interest in a minor elected post. If you have been a good party member, they will back you and assist you. Pay your dues, be loyal, jump through the hoops, because the fun is just beginning. Fail one time to jump through the hoops and the party will pull the rug out from under you and that includes donating money to the party's other candidates and voting how the party wants you to vote when you are told to do so and paying certain party bills like for phones or mailings, they call it a fee, but often it is just money to the party. You have to pay this money and make those donations in the ammount they say even if you have no money...you have to get.
So you want to change the world and be your own person and vote you conscience? Well, you have to achieve a certain elected level to have that kind of clout.

Answer 3

You start at the bottom and work your way up.

The bottom meaning as a "gofer" in a political organization. That usually involves doing the thankless grunt work necessary in all political campaigns, (phone calls, stuffing envelopes, going for coffee, etc.) and is usually an unpaid position.

You work your way up based on your efforts and abilities.

It is a very hard road and most people drop out long before they become candidates.

You cannot go to school to learn how to be a candidate or manage (work) a campaign. It can only be learned by experience.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Get yourself a volunteer position with an already established politico. The higher up the scale the better. Volunteer in the re-election office of the governor, or the state representative. Do a really good job. Use all the skills you have to expedite their work and they WILL notice. When you're asked what you would like as a reward for such great service, let him know that you would like a bit of mentoring...that you really want to get in on the ground floor of politics yourself, and see what he can come up with. This method will take a couple of years.

If this isn't quick enough for you, I suggest you start small in your own home town. Try to get elected to city council. You'll have to make yourself accessible to everyone. Try to get their problems solved. You'll need to be fully conversant with city by-laws. Make friends of city support staff. They will do favors much more quickly for people they know and trust than someone who just tries to throw their weight around. Get out into the community. To sporting events. Help fund raise for needed community resources....the list can just go on and on. Bottom line, you have to be known, and you have to be trusted to at least WANT to help.

Answer 5

Start volunteering at the local town or state political offices. Become known as honest and hard-working. Take initiative. Express your ideas and listen to other people's ideas, too. Let "higher-ups" know that you are interested in becoming more involved in local politics and aks if there other opportunities to serve and become involved. PS: Sometimes, a family name can hold you back in politics.

Answer 6

Run for school board, or some other local office - preferably one where you're running largely uncontested, and people aren't paying real attention to the election.

Or if you have a local branch of a political party around, call them up and see what it would take to become their candidate for a particular office.

They should be able to help you out.

Answer 7

In your city or state try to volunteer for a campaign, you won't get paid but you will get experience, you can use the experience so that for the next campaign you might be able to get paid. It might be a few jobs before you can get a paying one. If your ideas and help pay off to the candidate you could get a job for that candidate and that could help you get the exposure and experience needed to run yourself later on. This still takes a bit of money since you need to be able to take the time off work or whatever to follow a campaign around.

Answer 8

Contact the local office of the party you feel most closely affiliated with. Generally, get to know the person who runs it, know the volunteers, learn how the organization works. If you can, get involved on precinct walks, etc., where you'll meet lots of people. This isn't necessary but it's a good way to get out and meet the people you will be representing.

Run as a delegate to your party's convention -- again, a good way to network in the party and get to know people you may want to ask for favors.

Volunteer your time as an in-kind contribution. What this means is that if you value your time at $40/hr (and this is what they'd pay for it normally), then ask them to consider your time equivalent to money. This won't help them raise money, but most parties have "levels" of contributors that allow you to network with other people at that level. For instance, I donated $5000 of my time and got access to some judges, high-priced attorneys, and one congressman at a fund-raiser I could not otherwise afford.

Finally, just ASK the party what you need to do to run for office. They are DESIGNED to help folks like you get elected.

Good luck!

Answer 9

If I were trying to breaking into politics, I would probably try local gov't, city council something of that nature and build a name for myself. Good Luck. I'm Political Science Major.

Answer 10

Get more involved in community activities. Speak up for the group. Make your speech heard and accepted by more people. Make your group grow. Find financial supporters. Set aside some of your personal feelings or even ideals. Think of practical steps to do things for the enlarging group. You will be on the way up before you realize it.

Answer 11

Its hard without the established family name. It takes a lot of money too.

Think about the city or county level first. Thats a good place to start.