Marches are great. Clever signs, fresh air, everyone feels good. We just had a big one this weekend, actually lots of them, all around the world. Women, and men, really came out for this one. But will anything change at all, politically, because of these marches? Well, not very likely.

Attending a march is a great way to make you feel good about yourself, especially a march that is supporting a specific cause or protesting an issue. But just like protests and demonstrations “supporting” various movements such as Black Lives Matter and Occupy, they don’t actually work. There is, however one very effective way to bring about change in our country and that is by participating in our government.

The most effective means by which to bring about change is not a secret:  just participate! After all, we’re supposed to be a participatory democracy, maybe we should start paying more attention to the first word in that phrase. If you’re someone who feels the need to change the direction our country is heading, you’re going to have to step outside of the bubble of “slactivism” and drop your angry tweets and comments on Facebook. Like anything else, you’re going to have to put in the work to get something done. And walking around outside with your friends while holding a glittery sign isn’t going to cut it.

The bottom line is that you will need to attend county and state political party meetings. Whichever party you align with, you will need to become actively involved with, and that means putting in the time to attend meetings. Period. This doesn’t mean show up at a meeting or two, this means making a commitment to the party and becoming involved for years. Only then can an individual hope to shape that party and in turn shape the political course of our country.  You will need to put the work in: join committees, forge relationships, participate in votes on various subject matters. By doing so, over time, you can participate in the shaping of your political party. You can play a role in setting the candidate slates, from local to state to national, and influence policy positions that will be supported by your party. And perhaps just as important, you can then influence where money is being spent by the party to support which slates and positions, and to endorse which potential candidates. That’s how it works. That’s participation. Showing up at a march and singing Kumbaya with a bunch of fellow marchers will not bring about similar change, or really any change at all.

Of course, this is not what actually happens in this country. Few citizens ever get involved in the political process. At best, we can get Americans to come out and vote once every four years (usually complaining about what a terrible inconvenience the exercise was). Some will vote every two years if their Governor position is up for grabs, but very few vote every year, especially on those off “odd” years. For many though, participation begins and ends with voting once every four years, as if voting was the be all and end all of participating in our government. Wonder how many people attending the marches this weekend fall into that category? On the other end of the participation spectrum, dare it be asked how many of the marchers have ever attended a meeting of their political party?

While it doesn’t look like there are reliable attendance records from political party meetings on the county and state levels around the country, there is anecdotal evidence, and it’s less than encouraging. Apparently, there hasn’t been any change in attendance levels. Not throughout 2016 during the campaign. Not after the election when many were busy posting on social media their dislike for the winner and attending a protest in the election’s direct aftermath. Not this week leading up to the marches. Nope, none of the recent events in our political cycle has spurred more citizens to attend their party’s meetings and try to bring about the changes they so constantly post on social media about wanting to see happen. Democrat and Republican party meetings at the county and state levels are seeing the same shamefully low turnouts that they saw throughout 2016, that they saw at this time last year, that they saw at this time four and eight years ago at similar points in the political process. Yet so many seem so whipped up in a frenzy, demanding change from behind their keyboards, unwilling to get up and participate in the one manner in which they can actually do so. But a march? Sure, that sounds like fun!

Make no mistake about it, while participating in your party’s meetings as a means to effectuate change is no secret, those that have been participating all along are quite happy for you to stay home. Keep on tweeting, that’s fine, just don’t show up at the meetings because then the powers-that-be will have to actually start sharing that power. But for now, while so many are attending a march and slapping themselves on the back, the same unbelievably small group of people who keep controlling these parties at the local and state levels will keep controlling the candidate slates, the policy positions, and the flow of funding. And they are laughing at the marchers and occupiers and protesters, and they’re happy that the marchers and occupiers and protesters don’t ever show up at the meetings so they can keep their power and the status quo.