Last week the student government of the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) used EnCiv’s Undebates in its elections. All 25 candidates up for election used Undebates to record messages for student voters.
UCLA’s Undergraduate Student Association’s use of Undebates is significant not only for the numbers of candidates involved, but also because they were vying for positions in what political scientists call a “private” government–that is, the governing body of an organization or association requiring qualifications different from or in addition to citizenship.
No count exists of the numbers of elected officials of all the nation’s private governments, but their numbers probably exceed the half million officials Americans elect to serve at the local, state, and national levels of formal government.
Undebates’ pool of potential users is matched only by their usefulness. They are easy to record and view, inexpensive and, best of all, allow candidates and voters access whenever it’s most convenient for them–all without leaving home.
