Background
Over the past 35 years, the American conservative movement has used an effective infrastructure of coordinated organizations and individuals to articulate their philosophy, market their ideas to the general public, train candidates and future leaders, and mobilize voters. For years, progressives lacked a comparable infrastructure. This absence left candidates to generate their own policies, messaging, funding, media, and organizing operations. The resources poured into direct service and single-issue organizations were largely uncoordinated and ineffective in the process of creating widespread progressive change. This structural imbalance was a major driver of the country’s tilt to the Right over the past two decades.
That balance has begun shifting in the last several years, as many new organizations were founded to fulfill infrastructure functions, and Internet technology empowered millions of citizens to participate in a broad movement for change. The investment in this infrastructure has paid off. Progressive idea generators and media outlets are restoring balance to our nation’s marketplace of ideas. Candidates and elected officials receive much stronger training and support. And organizers and issue advocates have achieved unprecedented levels of cooperation in their voter engagement work. The shift in public opinion around progressive issues and the reversal of electoral fortunes for their champions in the last couple of years are the fruits of a more powerful movement.
Today’s progressive infrastructure fulfills many of the functions necessary for a successful movement, but it still lacks capacity and coordination. Very few organizations have achieved the proper scale for their efforts. Many national groups operate exclusively at the federal level; others provide services to a few states that are needed in all fifty. Furthermore, there are not enough mechanisms for coordination, either within sectors or across sectors, issues, and geographical areas. In order to conduct the massive public education effort and strategic campaigns that will power the progressive success story of the next 20+ years, we need a stronger, better-integrated movement infrastructure.
Progressive RoundtableSM
Since our beginning in 2001, the Commonweal Institute has advocated for the development of progressive infrastructure, and offered research, programming, and resources to help make it happen. We developed the Progressive RoundtableSM convening series in order to bring together working groups of progressive leaders to build and strengthen key components of this infrastructure. In 2006, a group of messaging and communications leaders from across the country focused on idea marketing. Local coalition building was the topic of the 2007 Bay Area Progressive Roundtable. And in 2009, we will work on connections between idea generators and grassroots actors to achieve policy change at state and local levels.
The Progressive RoundtableSM is focused on creating and coordinating infrastructure that serves the interests of the entire progressive community. If you are interested in providing your perspective, or learning more about the meetings and their outcomes, we encourage you to join our e-mail list.
