Though Fleischer prefers talking to voters face to face, he isnt opposed to sequestering volunteers in a phone bank to help L.G.B.T. Leadership Canvas Owl, Fox & Dean Those basic numbers tell you something about just how willing most Americans are to have an open conversation with a stranger about these ostensibly divisive issues, Broockman says. Susmik Lama is a one-and-a-half generation Nepali immigrant to the United States, born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal, who now calls Philly home. Though most political canvassing today is focused on mobilizing supporters, an increasing number of researchers, think tanks and campaign operatives have turned their attention to persuasion in the last few years, says Columbias Donald Green. Listening to a political opponents concerns. Talking about marriage brought up deep emotion. You can also go more in-depth on the science behind deep canvassing by reading the academic study referenced by the New York Times that was published by political scientists David Broockman and Josh Kalla in the peer-reviewed journal Science. In the video above, notice how the voter starts to come around on the issue when the canvasser asks if shes ever been on the receiving end of discrimination. Subscribe to the newsletter for new resources every month. Theres still a script, but its designed to help the canvasser build a good rapport with a voter. Right, because otherwise you have the biggest secret in the world, and everyone thinks something about you thats not true, Fleischer said, before pivoting to a story about Jacksons being demeaned by a waiter in a restaurant. He was thinking as if trans kids don't have all the other things kids have to deal with on top of being transgender," Williams says. Three months after the canvass, Broockman asked participants to fill out the survey again. Both were on display during many of the canvass conversations I observed, including the one with Nancy, the woman who moved to a five from a 10 after watching the opposition video. The technique also raises empathy in canvassers, who . Earlier that morning, Leadership Lab volunteers sat on stackable chairs and watched video clips of front-door encounters on a projector screen. She smiled shyly and asked Fleischer, the Leadership Labs director, how she could help him. After the first canvass I attended, the Leadership Lab project manager Ella Barrett seemed uncharacteristically sullen. New research tells us changing minds with deep canvassing is not impossible; its just very hard. People would often be very judgmental of the woman on the video or any woman who had had an abortion, Fleischer said. First, theres a learning curve involved in setting up a deep canvass because this method is so different. The watered-down intervention without the two-way exchange didnt move anyone to support undocumented immigrants. But research shows that the impact of our deep canvass conversations can last nine months or longer. It will take more studies and replications of this study before scientists know exactly what is influencing people's opinions. Mehrdad Azemun is Senior Strategist at Peoples Action. Tweet A Qualitative Examination of Dialogical Elements in Anti-Racist Deep I see transgender people as the same as I see myself, Nancy told him. Oops. You can connect to their values in that way. Deep canvassing was born - and can be boiled down to two key skills: Vulnerability and curiosity. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. I think in todays world, many communities have a call-out culture, says David Broockman, a UC Berkeley political scientist who has run these experiments with Josh Kalla, a political scientist at Yale University. Matthew Rodriguez Matthew is an organizer from El Paso who believes the only way we fight against the systems of oppression is by building collective power. After the canvass, the groups filled out four follow-up surveys, up to three months later. His deep canvassing career and vision took off in rural North Carolina, where hehelped change hearts and minds in our groundbreaking immigration deep canvass with Down Home North Carolina. Leadership Lab-trained volunteers were found to be successful at reducing transgender prejudice in front-door conversations, the effects persisting months later in follow-up surveys. As Fleischer returned to the discrimination she had faced, Nancy paused and said, It felt terrible. A few minutes later, when he asked her if she saw a connection between your experience and how you want to treat transgender people, she said she did. But not both.". We studied everything, from the kinds of conversations we should be having to the characteristics that made a voter persuadable, he says. To run an ad campaign you just need a bank account and a media consultant. Read transcript and/or Read more about it. Fleischer began getting the sense that just talking and listening to people was making them more accepting of same-sex marriage. The study made international news and seemed to confirm what many gays and lesbians believed in their guts: that knowing a gay person is a powerful antidote to anti-gay bias. As a result, our elected officials are reflecting the communities they represent less and less. I think people dont talk enough about the focus on persuasion we had, because the story line became, Oh, they won because turnout was so high.. Support our mission and help keep Vox free for all by making a financial contribution to Vox today. Since joining Peoples Action, Matthew has been a part of two of the largest deep canvass campaigns ever run. He and several collaborators struggled for years to get to this point. Deep Canvassing in Action - The Leadership LAB What an African-American person has faced because of their race is not the same as the discrimination that Ive faced for being bisexual, or that my friend has faced for being transgender, she told the group. The experiment, like all the ones in the study, was run a bit like a drug trial: The voters were randomly assigned (before the canvassers even knocked on their doors) to receive either the full deep canvassing conversation treatment, a watered-down version where the voters and canvassers dont exchange personal stories, or a placebo condition, where voters were engaged in a conversation that had nothing to do with immigration. Cost: $50 for both sessions Its almost the opposite of growing up today in the age of Facebook and political polarization, where its easy to always be among like-minded people, your self-isolation complete before you have your first beer., At first, Fleischer and his team tried cerebral arguments and appeals to fairness in their doorway conversations with same-sex-marriage opponents who didnt express deep religious objections. For example, KED wont support Republicans or, potentially, certain Democrats facing primary challenges. Broockman and Kalla point to Leadership Lab canvassers ability to engage voters in two prejudice-reduction behaviors at the door: perspective taking (the ability to empathize with anothers experience) and active processing (deep or effortful thinking). Effective Lobbying and Deep Canvassing - Institute for Change Leaders Ellas earliest organizing focus was on developing innovative tactics to recruit, train and retain large, dedicated volunteer teams with the Oregon Student Association at the University of Oregon. Staying grounded in our real lived experiences instead of opinions. Yes, Leadership Lab volunteers had spoken to voters in Los Angeles about gay marriage. There are very few tests of prejudice reduction methods, and Paluck says this suggests the Los Angeles LGBT Center's approach is actually far more effective than previous efforts, like TV ads. Jeremy Bird, a Hillary Clinton adviser who was the national field director for Obamas 2012 re-election effort, told me that his team conducted a number of experiments to try to have a greater impact when canvassing. Deep Canvassing: Changing Voters' Minds Through Conversation - Leading Massachusetts voters could choose to keep or throw out a law that banned discrimination based on gender identity. "The LGBT community and our allies were shocked and upset," Fleischer says. Though there was currently no ballot measure in Los Angeles to worry about, there was a palpable urgency to the Leadership Labs work. Note: One needs to login/become a member to access webinar. The leaders worked to keep the mood relaxed and optimistic. Let's say you want to beat Candidate X who won in Michigan by 10,000 votes. gets them to begin thinking hard about the issue. What does it take to divert someone away from prejudice and toward greater acceptance of others in order to build support for progressive causes? We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and It was only in his 20s that he started to tell his folks the truth, and he started making the transition to living as a man. Fleischers staff at the Los Angeles-based Leadership Lab which goes door to door to reduce bias against L.G.B.T. 1), Unpacking Deep Canvassing, Indivisible, 2021 (see right to vote video example at 19:49 mins), Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA, Contact a Commons librarian if you would like to connect with the author. We work to empower volunteers to connect the personal to the political with voters in order to make long-term, meaningful impacts on elections. Steve: So my name is Steve Deline, and I am a field organizer at The Leadership LAB at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. He also hopes it will usher in a new era of political persuasion. Transcript: Interview from Episode 080 - You Are Not So Smart Like, of course were on your doorstep on a Saturday talking about transgender issues!, Moments later, Williams reminded the volunteers to be open and nonjudgmental. The effect of most campaign messaging is short-lived and can evaporate in as little as 3-5 days. Does this give us any guidance on how to talk to folks we dont agree with? Connecting and Inspiring Voters Through Deep Canvassing - MyLO He is deeply passionate about the superpowers of vulnerability and non-judgmental curiosity that we all carry within us, and the political and personal transformations that occur when we use those powers to bridge fear and difference. Give me a few years, and I know Ill be a 10!, How Do You Change Voters Minds? And while the effects may be small, only moving opinion a handful of percentage points among those canvassed may be worth it, too. And he can grow a better beard than I can!. In 2020, Susmik moved to New Hampshire to work as a field organizer for Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. He handed her a small video player, on which she watched a Baptist minister in Houston make the case about bathrooms. With COVID-19, Is Deep Canvassing the Key to Defeating Trump in 2020 Tags Green connected Fleischer with Michael LaCour, then a U.C.L.A. The distinguishing feature of a deep canvass is you take a lot more time to talk to voters and have a bona fide two-way conversation about real experiences that shape their thinking about the issues. Volunteers who want to work on an election happening in their community or a nearby community will have the option to use a fill-in-the-blank style voter ID or GOTV script. But David Fleischer, the director of the Leadership LAB of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, thinks he's found a way to begin changing people's prejudices with just a short conversation. Jeffrey Fountain/Courtesy of Los Angeles LGBT Center. But after shooing the dog into another room, Nancy appeared in her doorway again. Its of a real voter and a canvasser from the Leadership Lab, a program of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which spearheaded this canvassing method after losing the 2008 Proposition 8 ballot initiative in California. Cutting edge political science research shows that canvassing is one of the most effective tactics in an activists arsenal (to read more about this, check out Deep Canvassing 101). But for transgenders? Deep Canvassing: 7 Questions with Dave Fleischer He ran a phone program in the 2020 general election that canvassed over 15,000 people in battleground states, and also led the deep-canvassing phones program in support of the Minneapolis public safety charter amendment in 2021. In New Hampshire, Susmik reached out to immigrant and refugee communities in the state, which has a particularly high number of Bhutanese refugees from Nepal. And I also wanted to point out to people we were not going to give up. Dave Fleischer a short, bald, gay, Jewish 61-year-old with bulging biceps and a distaste for prejudice knocked on the front door of a modest home in a middle-class neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles. LaCour and an advisor, political scientist Donald Green at Columbia University, published the findings in Science in 2014. The effects of most efforts to change peoples minds on an issue, if successful at all, tend to fade over time. Most people have been judged because of gender, race or some other issue. I felt like I could deal with facing the possibility of losing my dad and I could deal with the possibility of being rejected by the people I loved. Were just beginning to learn how to do this well, but its important. This article covers the basic components of a deep canvassing script. It took a devastating loss at the ballot box for Fleischer to see the political wisdom in heart-to-hearts with strangers. This toolkit is full of useful links to materials they have developed and shared including Climate Action Scripts online and in person, Script Iteration Examples and lots of training resources. But how does it work? The lessons from deep canvassing are that when youre trying to talk to people that may disagree with you and change minds, you have to work as a team. Canvassing for climate action: Heres how to make it work, 2021 (Podcast 40:53 mins). When working with new groups, new staff, on a new issue and at bigger scale, I think its natural to expect smaller effects, he says. Have a Conversation, academic study referenced by the New York Times that was published by political scientists David Broockman and Josh Kalla, http://www.vox.com/2014/11/13/7214339/campaign-ground-game. While #KnockEveryDoor will focus on the mechanics of canvassing, not the campaign objective of the canvasser, there will be minimal restrictions on what volunteers may canvass for. Across the street, a man in his late 30s who said he was liberal and pro-L.G.B.T.-rights moved to a five from an eight, explaining that he was deeply worried about the bathroom issue. The mans concern seemed informed by his experience in a New York City nightclub; he hinted at his discomfort standing at a urinal next to a drag queen. Steve Deline has been organizing around the methodology of deep canvassing, across multiple movements, for 13 years. I came out two years ago now, and one of the hardest things for me has been talking with folks who dont understand [gender identity], and not immediately writing someone off because they dont immediately get it, Topping says. He and LGBT Center volunteers began talking to as many people as they could, trying to understand why they lost Prop 8. The Los Angeles LGBT Center's Leadership LAB (Learn Act Build) specializes in deep canvassing and organizing through volunteer leadership development. Ella Barrett has a deep love for building dynamic teams and innovative systems to create measurable social change. Were a 10! Approaching voters with emotional honesty and vulnerability. Think back to the last time you changed your mind about something important. Here is a collection of resources about deep canvassing scripts including script examples and ideas, video training and podcasts. As part of the LA LGBT Center's groundbreaking Leadership LAB team, he helped create the original deep canvass approach. Broockman and Kalla (2016) assessed the impact of the . Anyone can read what you share. Fleischer is especially interested in learning whether deep canvassing can affect peoples thinking on two issues racial prejudice and abortion rights. We are still in the process of figuring this out. She ended a solid 10, a rating he was confident could survive opposition messaging. That doesnt tell you about the person inside., On this particular day, volunteers would be canvassing in a predominantly black neighborhood, so Gardiner reminded them to be sensitive to experiences of race-based discrimination. groups argued that transgender people (or those pretending to be) would pose a threat to children in public restrooms. David directs the Leadership Lab at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. . The effect was durable, too: Three to six months after the conversation, voters who shared their feelings with canvassers in this manner also reported less prejudice toward undocumented immigrants. It's of a real voter and a canvasser from the Leadership Lab, a program of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which spearheaded this canvassing method after losing the 2008 Proposition 8 ballot. And an uptick in 10 points on a feeling scale of 0 to 100 doesn't sound like an epiphany. Sample Scripts for Deep Canvassing: Signature Gathering and Voter Research, CallHub, 2022 (Online article). The impacts these conversations had on feelings of prejudice, Broockman admits, are about a third as strong. Dave Fleischer, director of the center's Leadership LAB, welcomed the academics' independent measurement of its canvassing program. This kind of conversation helps me talk to family members who arent totally there yet on accepting their identity, Topping says. Still, she didnt appear emotional in retelling the experiences. Volunteers may also canvass as part of an issue-specific advocacy campaign. Follow The Great Battlefield and others on SoundCloud. The idea is that people learn lessons more durably when they come to the conclusions on their own. The Los Angeles LGBT Center's Leadership LAB (Learn Act Build) specializes in deep canvassing and organizing through volunteer leadership development. Deep Canvassing Workshop 2022 Medicare for All Strategy Conference, HealthCareNow, 2022 (see example from 48:40 mins), Peoples Action Institute Deep Canvass Script, 2020, Peoples Action Institute (Report see pgs 8-9), Insights from Deep Canvassing: Proven Scripts for Transformational Outreach, The New Conversation Initiative, Netroots Nation, 2022 (Video), How We Can Reduce Prejudice with a Conversation, David Fleischer , TEDxMidAtlantic, 2017 (Video 16:51 mins), Unpacking Deep Canvassing, Indivisible, 2022 (Video See marriage equality example at 5:42 mins), Deep Canvassing: Changing Voters Minds Through Conversation, Leading Change Network, 2018 (Video 1:32:42 mins). There wasn't, however, any indication that those who started out with very negative feelings about transgender people were particularly resistant to the conversation. That doesn't mean everybody came away feeling more positive about transgender rights. The design of this tool was inspired by the Business Model Canvas. That also worked. For me, I never had a transgender friend I was really close to until I was 56, he said, handing Nancy the picture. "Deep Canvassing" - What Political Campaigns Can Learn From It Why is deep canvassing relevant to the world we live in today? Deep Canvassing. He has been organizing for over 20 years, with deep experience in community organizing, electoral politics and the immigrants rights movement. And the data shows it works. Change the conversation from the ground-up with climate deep canvassing Webinar, Climate Advocacy Lab, 2022. Dave Fleischer, director of the Leadership Lab.CreditDamon Casarez for The New York Times. For her, the video seemed to clarify that Fleischer was specifically asking her about transgender people, a group she had no experience with and seemed to have little inherent empathy for. 1. It has also attracted controversy. They share takeaways on how to construct outreach scripts that bridge divides and move people powerfully, with practical examples from advocacy campaigns on the ground. Steve Deline has been organizing around the methodology of deep canvassing, across multiple movements, for 13 years. The groups feared a backlash against a recent ordinance that prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. Deep Canvassing Script: Voting for Climate in 2022, AYCC, 2022 (4 pg Google Document). In 2014, Fleischer and his team modified their canvassing work to persuade and mobilize voters by phone. That is, it will be a platform that individuals, groups, and campaigns alike can plug into to receive training and support for progressive volunteers who wish to canvass in their communities. But many times this approach underestimates whos persuadable. The truth is, theres not much out there in scientific literature on what can change a voters mind. In short, very little, she writes in the same issue of Science, adding that the new studys results stand alone as a rigorous test of this type of prejudice-reduction intervention., Fleischer is planning more interventions. We have worked for candidates and causes, big and small, all across the country. Video example of deep canvassing. Its only right. Dave Fleischer of The Leadership Lab joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about how he's spent most of his life fighting for equal rights for LGBTQ people and how deep canvassing can help us find common ground and reduce prejudice. Broockman points out that this graph shows the impacts of deep canvassing among all people who came to the door to answer the canvassers questions. Green, who was unaware of the deception, quickly requested a retraction. Nancy Williams, right, who is transgender, talks with a voter as part of a canvassing effort in Los Angeles. Oh, yes, Nancy said. These scientists keep proving that reducing prejudice is possible. LaCour appeared to be breaking new ground, showing that one brief but memorable interaction could reduce prejudice. Without that theoretical understanding, its difficult to generalize and use the approach in other settings, Bruneau says. Its much easier to put all your volunteers in a cozy phone bank where everyone gets to hang out and eat pizza.. Volunteers went to the other half and started the conversations that Fleischer thinks can help change minds. Feel free to reach out to learn more about how to get involved. Its also a challenge to change a campaigns habits and make the goal of canvassing be to successfully relate to other people. Just dive in. David Fleischer discusses best practices to approach deep canvassing to impact the mind of voters efficiently. Ella then managed the Leadership LAB project at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, where a team of more than 1,000 volunteers and staff collaborated to innovate new methods of voter persuasion and prejudice reduction and apply them on the ground to help win LGBT rights campaigns across the country. She said she was trying to evolve on the issue, though. As Riley prepared to leave for the next house on the block, the woman called out. Instead of pelting voters with facts, we ask open-ended questions and then we listen, Dave Fleischer, the LGBTQ rights organizer who developed the technique, told me in 2016. There's this belief that if we just say the . Were literally iterating this model every day with a handful of full-time paid organizers working as peers with hundreds of volunteers to figure out whats working, whats not, and what needs to be added, subtracted or changed from our processes. Its not about calling people out or labeling them fill-in-the-blank-phobic. New distinctions Advancement Leadership Lab was established in 2018 as an experiential and community-based approach to leadership transformation through an investment in people, curriculum, and lifelong community. In it, canvassers in three areas central Tennessee; Fresno, California; and Orange County, California went door to door and interacted with 2,374 voters in these communities during the runup to the 2018 midterm elections. The impact of television ads, in particular, can fade in just a week. Each week, we explore unique solutions to some of the world's biggest problems. While a discussion of transgender rights can trigger deeply ingrained feelings about sex and gender roles, the issue is also a fairly recent political consideration for many people.
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