CBC Asks: Is politics broken? Yes, says Dave Meslin

Dave Meslin is a writer, community organizer and trainer. His TED talk The Antidote to Apathyhas been viewed over1.4 million times and translated into 37 languages.

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In September 2011,15,000 young Americans gathered to peacefully protest social andeconomic inequality.

The Occupy movement, which originated in Canada and spread across the world,disproved the stereotypes oftodays youth as apathetic and self-absorbed.

Every generationhas its protest movements, from the anti-Vietnam-War rallies of the '60s to the anti-globalization mobilizationsof the '90s, and this young generation is no different. Except for one thing.

Previous movements locatedtheir protests in front of government buildings or at international gatherings of political leaders. ButOccupy revealed a disturbing new reality. Todays youth dont believe power lies within the walls ofour parliaments, legislatures or city halls.

Rather than targeting government as an effective path toward change, these idealistic and inspired youth descended on the financial district of New York City.

What a sad reflection on our current political state.

Even those who are engaged and prepared to standup for changedont see government as a relevant player. Thats how disconnected and cynical wevebecome.

But we can reverse this trend.

Ive been travelling across North America, crowdsourcing 100 remediesfor a broken democracy:Participatory budgets in Halifax, City Hall School in Edmonton, mobile votingbuses in Calgary, ranked ballots in Ontario, open data projects, campaign finance reform, citizens'assemblies, online toolsand more.

Canadians from coast to coast are dreaming up new methods to increase participation, rebuild faith in thepolitical system and increase diverse representation in our governments.

But the first step towardchange is admitting we have a problem.

Declaring that the political processis no longer the most effective way to enact real change is not declaringdefeat.

Quite the opposite. Its an invitation, an invitation to raise our expectations, focus on solutions and transform our collectivecynicism into a culture of engagement.