How Progressive Civic Groups Can Avoid Weakening Themselves
Image by Duncan Shaffer.
National and state progressive civic groups have more than their hands full challenging Trump’s wrecking of America, but they need to address the ways they are weakening themselves. Here are some of them.
1. They are largely working remotely. Apart from the customary exceptions, not working in person with colleagues takes the life out of an organization. There is no substitute for person-to-person interactions, for that sudden flash of an effective tactic or strategy, or suggestions of a better way of writing or saying something. Also, serendipity thrives in an office filled with enthusiastic colleagues. Working in an office can also encourage less time goofing off on and less time on screens for non-work purposes.
2. While preserving civility and boasting during annual celebratory dinners, try to avoid becoming an internal, mutual admiration society. You need to challenge and nudge one another. None of us is as smart as all of us.
3. Find ways to replace managers or directors of groups or ongoing projects who have stagnated or burned out. Not doing this disables the entire project, subgroup, or group, year after year, not to mention driving out younger, more energetic, imaginative, and bold replacements. Nice people, listlessly hanging on too long, is a very serious problem.
4. Unless there is a self-privileging hierarchy or chronic abuse, try to avoid unionizing inside a nonprofit, fairly run. Even benign unions can freeze a group’s need for instant weekend commitments, staying longer at work, or otherwise having work rules that impede or block the passion for all-out engagement to prevail over the corporate greed hounds, corrupt politicians, or unresponsive bureaucracies. This does not preclude for any organizations having an honest complaint-handling process.
5. Do not be lulled into piling on a coalition to take credit for any successes. Most coalitions are joined by nominal signatories, with the real work being done by a small number of initiators.
6. Whether or not a group litigates, it should challenge bad judicial nominations sent to Congress or to the state legislature for confirmation. Same for nominations in states having elected judges. Some litigation groups make the mistake of standing on the sidelines and not informing the public of the reasons for rejecting such federal, lifetime nominations for fear of being penalized during future cases they bring. Doesn’t work that way.
7. The most successful lobbying of federal and state lawmakers is direct and personal with the incumbents and their staff. Some citizen lobbying groups in Washington, DC work remotely! The most powerful lobbyists – corporate, NRA, AIPAC – do personal lobbying. They are not known for big public marches. Do not be satisfied with a distant large rally or march, whose civic energies float into the ether. Also, personal lobbying, which is an ever-evolving skill, can more likely offset some of the opponents’ campaign contributions. Most civic groups don’t make campaign contributions.
8. Keep asking for and thinking about ways to convey Trump’s vicious attacks on our democracy, the economy, the environment, and worker and consumer health and safety where people live, work, and raise their families in both Blue and Red states. We can’t rely on the feeble Democratic Party, even when the worst GOP in history by far helps the Democrats win some elections. (See Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All by Mark Green and me.)
9. Never tie your missions to the tail of the Democratic Party. That is a perfect way to lose your leverage, independence, and conscience. For an example of how to be even-handed in denouncing charlatans in both major Parties, read the excellent book in 1990, WHO ROBBED AMERICA?: A Citizen’s Guide to the S&L Scandal (about the massive savings and loan scandals and bailouts) by Michael Waldman, the former director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, and their staff.
Being a steady “go-along” with the Democratic Party is the surest way to jettison an ambitious agenda and the chance of pushing the Democrats toward long-overdue progressive services to and protections of the people.
Also, it would help authenticate the citizen associations’ dedication to democracy not to marginalize third-party and independent candidates by supporting the major Parties’ obstruction of ballot access and other presentations by these candidates who have the right to earn votes.
10. Citizen groups are reflecting the overall cultural aliteracy. That is, they know how to read but do not go beyond their narrow specialty. “Readers think and Thinkers read” is our motto. That means book clubs. That means reading your group’s publications and other outputs. That means reading some government reports, the Congressional Record, and hearings.
It also could mean, if you pardon the touting, our three-year-old Capitol Hill Citizen newspaper, which is meant to be a print voice for civic advocates. It comes out quarterly and can be obtained by going to capitolhillcitizen.com for individual or group orders at a discount. We all need its unofficial empowering journalism to help broaden our range and depth.
Most of the above wariness is not easy, as it often deals with personalities, norms, and preoccupations in our overall society. On the other hand, rendering oneself more powerless in a plutocratic, dictatorial corporate state is or should be far more uncomfortable.
See my book Civic Self-Respect with suggestions for rebuilding our civic culture.
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