Joining a political society for total newbies

So you’ve finished high school and you’ve suddenly start giving a shit about everything – welcome to university. Don’t worry though, because you’re in good company. Once you start to familiarise yourself with your new campus, you’re going to start seeing a lot of posters for things like Socialist Alliance meetings and talks on all the big -isms: Marxism, Communism, Capitalism and so on. There’s a lot to care about, but where do you start? The major political parties are all going to have societies signing up new members during O-Week, and they’ll tell you pretty much anything to get your membership fee. It can be a little overwhelming to work out what you’re passionate about, especially if you haven’t been that involved in politics yet. If you’re interested in changing that, here are some simple steps to get you started.

Find out where you stand

It’s no use joining the Liberal society if you’re passionate about the union movement. And you’re not going to get far in the Labor society if you think the government should be limited to one or two people who stay the hell out of everyone’s business. But with so many different political persuasions to choose from, it can be harder than you think to find out where you sit on the spectrum.

Luckily, there are some tools out there to help you find your way. Vote Compass is a handy tool that asks you a few questions and takes your answers to tell you who you should be voting for. The program was used by the ABC in last year’s NSW and Queensland elections, so if you live outside these states, you might not recognise some of the candidates. In any case, you’ll still get a pretty good idea of which way you swing. Take note that this app only caters to major parties, so if you think you might be an anti-capitalist or more right-wing than Genghis Khan, you may have to look somewhere else.

Talk it out at O-Week

If you’ve already made up your mind, O-Week is the best time to join a society. If you’re still unsure of your position, take advantage of O-Week to talk to members of various societies about what they do and what they stand for. You’ll get a pretty good idea of what the society’s deal is by talking to current members face-to-face instead of just reading about them online.

Keep in mind that some political societies don’t necessarily follow the party line when it comes to their own beliefs. It’s not uncommon for political societies to petition their state and federal namesakes for a change in policy or direction. So if you think you have a vision for the future of a party, a political society is a great way to start.

Get your hands dirty

Being political at uni doesn’t necessarily mean chaining yourself to a tree or lying down in front of a bulldozer, but you should at least try and go to some meetings or events. This is your best chance to get a really up-close look at how the society operates and what they really believe in. Political parties operate on membership numbers, and they’ll stop at no end to get you to join up with them – a lot of the time just to make themselves look bigger. So by showing up at a meeting or rally and listening to what the members of the society are doing and saying, you’ll start to develop an informed understanding of what the society’s purpose and vibe really is. They might have seemed super chill during O-Week, but you can easily end up surrounded by diehard lunatics who are totally not chill at all. 

Ben Rice

Ben Rice is a law student who writes a lot of stuff that people don’t read at bennywrites.com. Or, you can find him on Twitter @benny_writes.