Introduction
In this resource guide we provide links to case studies regarding how activists have intervened in elections in order to raise issues, force policy change, undermine and defeat opponents, and raise questions about the nature of democracy. For further reading check out our topic guides covering resources related to understanding elections and deciding how to intervene in them and election-related skills. Note that while the Commons Library links people up with resources to enable engagement with political structures and processes we do not endorse any particular strategy, political party or candidates.Winning the Vote
Voting rights for First Nations People A history of how First Nations people gained the vote via campaigns across Australia. Women’s Suffrage in Australia A short history of how activism gained the vote for women in South Australia and then others across the country. Eureka and its contribution to Democracy Various classroom resources and an essay for people of all ages linking voting rights in Australia to activism undertaken by Chartists and others as well as the Eureka Stockade uprising of 1854.Issues Campaigns at Elections
Union Mobilization and the 2007 Federal Election in Australia This article from the British Journal of Industrial Relations analyses and details how the Australian union movement campaigned against the Howard government’s WorkChoices labour reforms. It explores how the Your Rights at Work campaign intervened with a form of political organizing that had an electoral impact while responding to shifting state strategy and the limits of traditional union defences constituted by industrial action, legal protection and reliance on the Australian Labor Party. Tasmanian Wilderness Society blocks dam construction (Franklin River Campaign) 1981-83 A case study of the Franklin Dam campaign and how it combined non-violent direct action with lobbying and intervention in the 1983 Australian federal election to gain environmental protections. Effective action for social change: The campaign to save the Franklin River This publication delves deeply into the history of the Franklin Dam campaign and the differing methods of organisations and tactics that activists used, including in relation to the 1983 election. Stop Adani and the Suffragettes: Reflections on targets and tactics This article compares the tactics used by climate campaigners during the 2017 Queensland election with those used a century earlier by suffragettes in Britain and draws lessons from the experiences of both.Campaigning for Candidates and to Shift Election Results
Learn about political organising in electoral campaigns from the Leading Change Network’s Political Organizing Series.
Lessons for Campaigners from Zohran Mamdani’s Victory
Articles and videos about Mamdani’s successful New York City Mayoral campaign in November 2025.
From Struggle to Victory: The Role of Civil Society in the Last French Election
Sarah Durieux shares the story of the snap French election of July 2024 and the way the left collaborated to win.