Proof Through the Night

Recommended Steps

STEP #1 Understand this web site’s organization.

This page walks potential participants through the rest of the site, in a step-by-step fashion. Keep coming back to this page, to find out what to do next.

Most of our web pages are for people who are working to gain political proficiency. Once you have it, in other words, once you pass the Proficiency Test, then you will probably come back to website mainly to use the Political Knowledge page to get current information on candidates and issues.

STEP # 2 If you haven't already done so, read about our strategies for creating an informed, caring and active electorate in America! Right now, you probably don’t believe that a movement will take hold and inspire Americans to get politically proficient; but we have a plan that we think will work wonders. Check it out!

STEP # 3 Read the page "Why Care?" There are a lot of reasons why people are pessimistic about politics and government. We accept this pessimism as our starting point, and we offer good reasons and lots of incentives for doing the small amount of work needed to become politically proficient.

STEP # 4 Read a little about who we are and our standards. You will want to know that we are nonpartisan. Later, we will be asking you to register as a participant. You will want to know that we will keep the information secure, and not sell it, etc. By the way, you don’t have to register to have access to the political resources and our course. But we'll explain how it will help spread this political empowerment movement. You might even want to see some endorsements so you can know we are reputable.

STEP # 5 Make a decision of whether or not to be a full participant. A full participant of PTTN is someone who is or does all the following:

1. They are a U.S. citizen of voting age.

2. They are a registered voter. If you're not currently registered to vote, and want to be, go here. (This link will take you away from our website.)

3. They spend at least an hour a week intaking news that pertains to politics.

4. They spend two hours a month doing advocacy on issues that they care about. This means learning about issues, doing critical thinking, and then contacting key decision makers, letting them learn your views.

5. Twice a year, before elections, they take 2-4 hours to study the candidates and the issues.

6. As soon as they are comfortable, they invite and support two others to be full participants. This way, a chain reaction of political empowerment will spread across the country.

If you decide to be a full participant, continue following these steps. If you are not old enough to vote, you can still do all the steps. You can still do advocacy and have an impact on your country and world. We salute everyone who intends to become an effective citizen.

STEP # 6 Get ongoing personal support. We want you to follow through, and that takes effort. We believe that most people won’t make it all the way through the online training without someone to encourage them and support them. That’s why we strongly recommend that you have someone support you. Here are four options for support. Pick the one that works for you:

a) Invite one person to learn with you. It may be a friend or a family member. You can work through the materials together. If you invite them, it will count toward the minimum of two people that you need to invite for this strategy to chain react. Unless you are almost sure someone will join you, you might read the Tips for Inviting Others page first.

b) Just invite someone to be your support person. They don’t need to take the course or learn anything themselves. They just need to check in with you on a regular basis. Once or twice a week is recommended. We call this being a support “Buddy” and here is a page of Buddy tips for you and your Buddy to read. It helps if your Buddy is also working on some goal. It can be any goal or project. If they are working on something, then you can both support each other.

c) Invite a small group of people to learn with you. If you go to college, invite some classmates. If you go to a place of worship, invite some people from there. Perhaps you know two or three people from work who have some interest in politics. What's nice about inviting a small group, is that you have automatically completed your requirement to help spread this movement.

d) If this works for you and if you have the money, write a check for a painfully large amount of money. Make it out to an honest friend or some charity, and tell them they can spend it or send it if you don’t pass the Proficiency Test within a month.

STEP # 7 Take the online course. Go there for further instructions. At the end of the course, you will be reminded to return to this page to continue the Recommended Steps.

STEP # 8 Learn about registration on the registration page. If you register, you'll automatically receive email reminders to do your monthly advocacy and to plan your Proof Through the Night Saturday and Sunday. That page will direct you to put your user name and password in a secure location.

STEP # 9 Now that you've done all the learning, take the proficiency test. Go to the test introduction page for further instructions.

STEP # 10 Do the planning that will make news intake and advocacy a routine part of your life. See our integration page for tips on creating these new habits. Keep up with your news intake and do your monthly advocacy, so that you'll continue to be Proof Through the Night. When the email reminders near election time, plan your Proof Through the Night Saturday and Sunday. The email will contain a link to the page that explains how to prepare yourself, so that you and a few friends get the most out of those few hours of studying the candidates and issues. If you like, you can look at that pre-election preparation page now.

Also, the email reminders will remind you of all the information you can access at any time through our Knowledge Resources page.

STEP # 11 Again, congratulations for passing the test! That was a huge step! If most Americans do what you did, there will be solid hope for America’s future. This next step is just as important. We want you to begin to invite at least two others to begin the Proof Through the Night learning process. Here are three reasons for doing this right away:

1. You still have a lot of momentum and enthusiasm from your success at passing the test.

2. The sooner the chain reaction spreads, the sooner a healthy and more efficient American Democracy will produce benefits for its citizens—and be a beacon of hope and a model for the rest of the world.

3. Building the habits of regular news intake and regular monthly advocacy are not easy. If you invite other people in, there will be more pressure to follow through because you will be a good example to them. Also, once they gain proficiency, you and those you invite can mutually support each other.

If you haven't already done so, read the Tips for Inviting Others page.

STEP # 12 Now that you have experienced Proof Through the Night, and now that you have invited and supported two people, you have every reason to believe that the chain reaction will grow and spread across the country. Please help it grow by making a tax-deductible donation. On the Donations Page you will learn what the money will be used for, and how to make a donation.

NEXT STEPS Just keep on keeping on! You will continue to get periodic reminders to do advocacy. You'll also get reminders to plan your Proof Through the Night Saturday and Sunday event. Eight years after you took the test, you'll be asked to review the materials and retake the test. That’s because we believe that it’s important to always have the basic knowledge and skills mastered.