California Politics Workbook
Explore the leading guides, handbooks, and tools for effective advocacy and organizing.
This hands-on, semester-long seminar explores the methods, tools, and skills used to conduct legislative and regulatory advocacy. Rather than just studying the process, you will actively engage in policymaking. For this semester, the simulation has been converted into a printable, physical workbook.
Workbook Instructions
You must select a specific California policy area to focus on for the semester. Each week, bring the physical workbook to class and submit your handwritten responses to the weekly prompt for a pass/fail grade.
🖨️ Download / Print Workbook
Academic Resource
Community Tool Box
- Community Tool Box
Massive free resource out of the University of Kansas with hundreds of chapters on community assessment, coalition building, writing grants, advocating for change, and evaluating impact.
Internal Structure Guides
Seeds for Change
- Seeds for Change
Free downloadable guides on campaign skills, consensus decision-making, facilitation, and running meetings — especially useful for internal group structure.
Budget Advocacy
California Budget & Policy Center
- Budget Academy
A free open curriculum breaking down how the state budget works. - Dollars & Democracy
Introductory training slide deck explaining rules, key decision-makers, and advocacy opportunities.
Organizer Network
Blueprints for Change
- Blueprints for Change
A set of shared Google Docs targeted at progressive activists covering organizing and campaigning strategies, online-offline approaches, tools, and self-defense for organizers.
Resource Library
The Commons Library
- The Commons Social Change Library
An online collection covering campaign strategy, community organizing, and more.
Methodology Toolkit
Beautiful Trouble
- Beautiful Trouble
A collection of tactics, principles, theories, and methodologies, with free multilingual toolkits.
Legislative Strategy
Indivisible
- State Legislative Advocacy Guide
Free, practical guide covering constituent pressure tactics—letters to the editor mentioning legislators by name, op-eds, and making advocacy visible to legislative staff.
Open Source Guide
Activist Handbook
- Wellbeing for Activists
Resources and guides on maintaining mental health, preventing burnout, and prioritizing wellbeing in movement spaces.
Resource Library
The Commons Library
- Communications for Social Change
Comprehensive guides on digital campaigning, communications, framing, and narrative building.
Open Source Guide
Activist Handbook
- Communication Strategies
A Wikipedia-like site for everyone to exchange knowledge and experiences on activism messaging and communication.
Primary Source Database
California Legislative Information
- Leginfo Database
A free, authoritative platform to track bills, read full text with highlighted amendments, view committee votes, and access staff bill analyses. Essential for understanding current law and legislative arguments.
Open Source Guide
Activist Handbook
- The Activist's Handbook
A Wikipedia-like site for everyone to exchange knowledge and experiences on activism — open source, free to use, by activists for activists, with 450+ guides.
Legal & Policy Advocacy
Alliance for Justice (AFJ)
- California Advocacy Resources Toolkit
Covers regulations impacting nonprofit advocacy in California, the lifecycle of CA legislation, and budget processes. - Bolder Advocacy Initiative
Essential guide on the legal framework for nonprofit advocacy—what 501(c)(3)s can and can't do, tracking lobbying expenditures, and the difference between issue advocacy and direct lobbying.
Government Resource
California Assembly & Senate
- Citizen's Guide to the Legislative Process
Official primary source guides covering how a bill moves from idea through committee, how to testify, what to say to appropriations versus policy committees, and how to read staff analyses.
Educational Materials
Legislative Process Deep Dive
- California Constitution Article IV Legislative [Sec. 1 - Sec. 28]
- Life Cycle of a Bill (Calif. St. Capitol Museum)
- The Life Cycle of Legislation graphic (California's Legislature)
- The Legislative Process, Chap. IX in California's Legislature
- Lifting the Curtain on the California Legislative Process (Video)
Simulation Framework
Harvard Law Policy Advocacy Workshop
- Workshop Structure
A pedagogical model for structuring advocacy campaigns. Sequences through issue spotting, developing campaigns, drafting legislation, and written/oral advocacy.
Methodology Toolkit
Beautiful Trouble
- Theories of Change
A collection of theories and methodologies to understand the cycle that successful social movements tend to follow.
Open Source Guide
Activist Handbook
- Activist Theory
Guides on understanding power dynamics, movement ecology, and the theoretical underpinnings of successful activism.