This is an interesting approach to the question, because it contrapositions not the ordinary “voting vs. activism”, but a different pair of actions, namely “campaigning vs. activism”.
A few words about voting
Voting is cheap, accessible and doesn’t require much of your time either - IMHO you should always vote, but assume it accomplishes very little. I won’t blame a person if they don’t vote - but if a population consistently does not vote, I will say that “they had it coming”. The way to anarchy likely doesn’t go crashing through populism and authoritarianism, so people should bother to prevent these. Everyone can stop voting at the point when parliaments get sortitioned (drawn with a lottery).
A few words about campaigning
If you campaign for a political power that doesn’t represent you well, that’s putting in more effort - for a not exactly increasing return. I have assisted a socialist politician in their campaign. During the course of this work, I learned a few things that were useful, but the guy lost laughably. In my country, votes “lost” by an individual candidate still contribute to a party’s success, but in your country, things may differ, so take note of what the rules are. :)
A few words about activism
Activism can get you goods directly. Both voting and campaigning are low-return activity, but if you can figure out a way to make some part of society work better without a general referendum - go for it! :)
This is an interesting approach to the question, because it contrapositions not the ordinary “voting vs. activism”, but a different pair of actions, namely “campaigning vs. activism”.
A few words about voting
Voting is cheap, accessible and doesn’t require much of your time either - IMHO you should always vote, but assume it accomplishes very little. I won’t blame a person if they don’t vote - but if a population consistently does not vote, I will say that “they had it coming”. The way to anarchy likely doesn’t go crashing through populism and authoritarianism, so people should bother to prevent these. Everyone can stop voting at the point when parliaments get sortitioned (drawn with a lottery).
A few words about campaigning
If you campaign for a political power that doesn’t represent you well, that’s putting in more effort - for a not exactly increasing return. I have assisted a socialist politician in their campaign. During the course of this work, I learned a few things that were useful, but the guy lost laughably. In my country, votes “lost” by an individual candidate still contribute to a party’s success, but in your country, things may differ, so take note of what the rules are. :)
A few words about activism
Activism can get you goods directly. Both voting and campaigning are low-return activity, but if you can figure out a way to make some part of society work better without a general referendum - go for it! :)