Overview
The Citizens Rise movement isn’t just about laws — it’s about giving ordinary citizens the tools to organize, fight back, and win. Strategy 6 builds a suite of digital infrastructure that helps local reformers, watchdogs, volunteers, and firewall-compliant candidates coordinate efforts, expose corruption, and scale real-time response to Big Money activity.
This strategy bridges the gap between legislative reform and citizen action. It’s not about fancy campaign tech for elites — it’s about functional, decentralized tools that let people act with precision and purpose.
Who Uses These Tools, When, and Why
Organizers
- When: During ballot initiative drives, signature campaigns, or reform pushes
- Why: To coordinate volunteers, run outreach events, and organize local chapters
- Tools: Petition launch kits, team dashboards, field mobilization maps, outreach scripts
Watchdogs & Journalists
- When: When dark money ads go live, or lobbying surges around a bill
- Why: To investigate, report, and pressure regulators
- Tools: Disclosure alert feeds, spending map overlays, vendor tracing dashboards, whistleblower portals
Firewall-Compliant Candidates
- When: During campaign planning, fundraising, and voter outreach
- Why: To run competitive campaigns without relying on Big Money
- Tools: Social media content kits, messaging templates, voter connection tools, pre-built distribution lists
Amplifiers & Volunteers
- When: Every day — when influence events break, when organizing kicks off, or during debates and vote periods
- Why: To take quick action, spread the message, and show up when it matters
- Tools: Mobile app notifications, civic action calendars, remixable content packs, share links and talking points
What These Tools Do
- Action Routing: Voters receive alerts when dark money ads launch in their state — and what to do about it
- Campaign Support: Reform candidates receive plug-and-play outreach kits to save time and reduce staff costs
- Volunteer Infrastructure: Local organizers can host events, track turnout, manage canvassing routes
- Transparency Feeds: Journalists and watchdogs can monitor ad buys, donations, and suspicious vendor activity in real time
- Amplification Systems: Users get access to vetted talking points, shareable graphics, and videos to combat disinformation and uplift firewall-aligned content
Why This Matters
Without infrastructure, people burn out. Campaigns stall. Reform efforts stay small. Big Money wins by being everywhere at once — with paid staff, insider access, and automated response teams. These tools are how we fight back.
This strategy isn’t about building an app. It’s about building a digital ecosystem that puts power in citizens’ hands — with tools they can trust, and tactics they can use.
And unlike Big Tech campaign platforms, Citizens Rise tools are designed to be:
- Open-source and publicly licensed
- Modular and scalable for each state
- Built to serve reformers, not profit from them
Build Path (Phased)
- Phase 1: Use existing platforms to prototype (Google Forms, Action Network, Bluesky, Airtable, Canva)
- Phase 2: Develop basic custom modules for voter alerts, disclosure feeds, and media kits
- Phase 3: Pilot toolsets in ballot initiative states and with firewall candidates
- Phase 4: Expand public-facing dashboard, API access, and volunteer coordination across multiple states
These tools are not just software. They’re the connective tissue of the movement. And they will scale only as fast as people do — built for those who act, and governed by the public they serve.
Important Note
These tools are most powerful in states where the Clean State Firewall or Trigger Law is in effect. Without enforceable disclosure rules, the platform can’t surface hidden money or vendor connections in real time. In those states, the tools still support organizing, candidate amplification, and citizen action — but the transparency layer depends on passing the laws first.
This is why Citizens Rise pairs tools with legislation. The tech can’t fix what the law still protects — but once the firewall is up, these tools make it visible, trackable, and beatable.