Understanding Progressive Infrastructure

The American conservative movement has succeeded in moving public attitudes steadily rightward over the last 30 years, with far-reaching consequences for the country’s political governance.  This success has been achieved through a well-funded and well-coordinated organizational infrastructure that follows a long-term, disciplined communications strategy.  In order for moderates and progressives to maximize the power of their own ideas and values, and to compete effectively with conservatives over the coming decades, they must develop, without delay, their own infrastructural capacity and practices.  This paper outlines the functions performed by political infrastructure and the benefits that can result.  It also presents an overview of the progress that has been made thus far toward creating progressive infrastructure and highlights further steps that are needed. 

The Conservative Infrastructure and Elections

In anticipation of the 2008 election season, numerous political analysts and commentators are giving their thoughts on what is happening and why.  Much of what is said has truth and value, but it does not tell the whole story. There has been almost no media recognition of the role that an extensive network of conservative organizations is already playing in the election run-up. This conservative infrastructure, which advances a long-term conservative strategy, continuously markets their ideology to the broad public, effectively crowding out other perspectives. This conservative strategy plays a significant role in election outcomes and, over time, has also forced Democrats to move to the Right in hopes of getting elected.

Conservative infrastructure provides politicians with both the ideas and the specific language – such as “illegal aliens”, “frivolous lawsuits”, “tax relief”, and “War on Terror” – for use in public statements and campaigns. The messaging components of the conservative infrastructure also present these words and the associated conservative perspectives to the public through multiple media, making it appear as if the politicians are simply expressing widely accepted ideas. Moreover, thanks to their institutional infrastructure and its affiliated media, conservative politicians and activists can rapidly communicate their messages to the broad public through conservative talk radio, network television, and print media.  Other media outlets, Democratic as well as Republican politicians, activists, and ordinary citizens pick up the conservative frames and language and use them widely, thereby benefiting conservative candidates and positions.

Any analysis, therefore, that points only to the mechanics of the campaign, to the supposed strengths and weaknesses of the candidates and parties, misses a major factor in these political races. The political success of the Republican Party rests largely on a network of right-wing organizations, individuals, and their funders that together formulate and disseminate compelling messages that support conservative candidates and set the political agenda. A major driver of Republican ascendancy over the past several decades has been this ideologically-oriented conservative movement infrastructure—an infrastructure that interacts with, but is separate from, the Republican Party.

The Right’s successful dissemination of their values and ideas is why conservative perspectives now dominate the public discourse. It is why so many candidates who, 30 years ago, would have been considered too extreme to be given serious consideration are now being elected.

For the most part, moderate and progressive candidates are still on their own. They have to make their own arguments, they have to develop their own language, they have to educate voters on their issues, and they are not able to depend upon an infrastructure and its aligned media for support the way conservative candidates can.

The Need for Progressive Political Infrastructure

Since 2002, there has been increasing attention to the desirability of creating a “progressive infrastructure.” Interest was stimulated by online commentary by progressive bloggers and in response to Rob Stein’s fabled slide show about the conservative movement’s infrastructure.  In January, 2005, the Commonweal Institute disseminated a white paper in the topic, “Creating Progressive Infrastructure Now,” which identified the functions that a political movement infrastructure serves in advancing the movement’s goals.  Subsequently, a number of progressive leaders who met in Asilomar, California, in mid-2005, agreed on the requirements of an effective progressive political infrastructure, which included:
• Much more coordination and collaboration across networks, organizations, and issues at the regional and national level,
• Creating greater public and movement-wide understanding of the issues, and
• A stronger and more coherent message.

The Nature and Functions of Political Infrastructure

Webster defines infrastructure as “the basic framework of a system.” We can think of it as something like our interstate highway system, which is the framework that enables surface travel through and around the nation.  To be fully operational, the highway infrastructure must incorporate such functions as maintenance, highway patrol, and the accommodation of a variety of different vehicle types.

In the political context, the infrastructure comprises the organizations and individuals that support a political movement based on underlying values and principles.  It is a system capable of influencing the public and the politics of the nation by promoting ideas and advancing a political agenda.  As in the example of the highway system, the infrastructure must be able to serve a number of functions in order to operate effectively. If those functions are not provided for, the infrastructure will be an incomplete system unable to accomplish its objectives.  Some of these functions are best carried out by 501c3 nonprofits; others by lobbying entities such as 501c4s, 527s, or PACs; others by political parties or for-profit entities; or by combinations of these types of organizations.

Functions of a Political Movement Infrastructure (a non-exhaustive list):

• Articulate the underlying ideology;
• Develop strategies and tactics that can be used by organizations within and allied to the infrastructure;
• Foster coordination between the organizations and individuals within the infrastructure, and coordination between infrastructure entities and others political players, such as activists, fundraisers, and officeholders;
• Develop and disseminate conceptual frames, language, and narratives that can be used to advance positions consistent with the movement’s ideology;
• Conduct market research on attitudes, knowledge, framing, language, and media usage;
• Educate public officials, candidates, and decision-makers regarding the issues;
• Create and disseminate content for the media;
• Garner favorable media coverage for the movement’s philosophy and positions;
• Conduct policy research and development that reflects the movement’s priorities;
• Influence major institutions to respond favorably to the movement’s ideas and proposals;
• Track the behavior of opponents and develop appropriate counter-measures;
• Recruit and train members for the movement, including those of a younger generation;
• Train political campaign operatives and candidates;
• Cultivate and coordinate both regular and ad hoc funding sources;
• Develop model legislation for adoption by Congress and by state and local legislatures;
• Create a body of intellectual work that supports critical issue areas, and prepare policy papers and other communications that explain and advocate the movement’s positions on specific issues;
• Establish speakers bureaus, provide training for speakers, and secure media placements;
• Provide special training in using verbal techniques (e.g., framing, language, metaphors, and narrative) for office holders, media spokespeople, authors, and grassroots activists;
• Organize grassroots campaigns;
• Exert an appropriate influence on the legal and judicial systems; and
• Coordinate the various components of the infrastructure on an ongoing basis.

Characteristics of Infrastructure Organizations

Infrastructure organizations are characteristically multi-issue and focused on advancing underlying principles and ideas. This model has worked well for the Right and there is no reason to think it cannot also work well for progressives.  Multi-issue think tanks not only develop ideas and policy, but also engage in advocacy, frequently with a strong emphasis on marketing and communications. Such organizations can advance multiple issues simultaneously, relying on unifying frames and language consistent with their philosophy and values.   

Multi-issue organizations enable efficient communications.  Established relationships with a variety of specialized media and communication outlets—e.g., ethnic-language broadcast media, the Internet blogging community, youth/campus organizations, faith organizations—can be used to disseminate messages about a wide range of issues in ways that would be difficult for single-issue organizations.  Multi-issue advocacy organizations can tailor their messages to the interests, culture, and psychodemographics of different target audiences, all the while advancing a consistent underlying philosophy.  They can also serve as resource centers for the media, speakers, politicians, and policy makers who need information quickly and in customized formats. 

As a prime example of an infrastructure organization, consider the Heritage Foundation, which is arguably the most influential of the conservative infrastructure organizations. The Heritage Foundation is a multi-issue advocacy think tank whose operations include long-term policy strategy development, policy research, publications and presentations, wide-ranging communications to the public and to office-holders, conservative spokesperson and media personnel training, media content production (including television and radio production in its own studios), information database maintenance for mainstream media, and a central clearinghouse function for a large infrastructure of hundreds of other organizations.  In the words of its president, Edwin J. Feulner, “We don’t just stress credibility… We stress an efficient, effective delivery system.  Production is one side; marketing is equally important.”  The Heritage Foundation’s primary objective is the dissemination of conservative ideas; its primary strategy is to employ information technology and use the media in order to influence political leaders and public opinion.

In addition to the Heritage Foundation and a number of other think tanks, the Right’s infrastructure organizations include, but are not limited to, those that provide model legislation for state legislators; those that recruit and train law students to be advocates for the movement, then facilitate their career advancement in government and policy-making positions; those that coordinate funding; and those that coordinate with single-issue organizations. Although these organizations are not involved in marketing or communications per se, their participation in the conservative infrastructure is essential. The conservative infrastructure has one or more organizations that carry out each of the infrastructure functions listed above.

Infrastructure Independent of Political Parties

An important, distinguishing characteristic of political movement infrastructure is that, although its advocacy may appear to be aligned with a political party, the infrastructure is, as a matter of law and perception, separate from any political party.  Because the Right’s infrastructure is separate from the Republican Party, conservative infrastructure organizations can maintain their tax-protected status, while acting as strong advocates for positions that are consistent with those of Republican politicians and the Party.  Indeed, the conservative infrastructure develops and sets the long-term policy agenda on an ongoing basis, as well as engaging in short-term tactics to advance specific issues. Conservative politicians can use talking points provided by right-wing think tanks, appear on infrastructure-developed media programs, and have what they say repeated in the Right’s echo-chamber.  The lack of a similar infrastructure has put progressive politicians and their political parties at a distinct disadvantage. 

There is ongoing debate about whether a progressive movement, separate from the Democratic Party, is needed.  I am among those who believe that it is.  By its nature, a movement is an ongoing entity that can advance continuously toward its goals over a long period of time.  Political parties, by contrast, focus appropriately on campaigns – getting their candidates elected and keeping them in office.  Arguing for development of progressive infrastructure, former Democratic Senator Bill Bradley said, in his article “A Party Inverted”, “If Democrats are serious about preparing for the next election or the next election after that, some influential Democrats will have to resist entrusting their dreams to individual candidates and instead make a commitment to build a stable pyramid from the base up. It will take at least a decade's commitment, and it won't come cheap. But there really is no other choice.”

Coordination

As indicated above, coordination and collaboration are essential to the function of political infrastructure.  The conservative infrastructure has created mechanisms for continually adjusting short-term tactics to match longer-term strategies and overall goals.  These include weekly meetings of dozens of key players, at which priorities and responsibilities are discussed and decided. Responsibility for convening and running the meetings is assigned to a specific individual. This coordination and harmony between short-term and long-term, plus a disciplined approach to communications, have been instrumental to the Right’s success.

With proper coordination, a number of numerous existing progressing nonprofit organizations and even politically-oriented for-profit entities could play important roles in carrying out some of the functions of the infrastructure, such as policy and market research, policy development, and strategic communications.  Most existing progressive organizations have a discrete issue focus. Since they represent so much of the existing progressive capacity, it is essential that they become integrated into infrastructure operations. This can be accomplished, in part, through coordination around shared strategy, framing, and language. Marketing and communications infrastructure organizations can reach the broader public with the intellectual products of single-issue organizations, a number of which conduct substantial amounts of research and policy development. Multi-issue infrastructure communication organizations can also take strategic advantage of synergies between issues in ways that cross traditional issue boundaries. Further, the development of coordinating mechanisms will ensure that the research undertaken by single issue organizations is not duplicated by infrastructure organizations. 

Current Status of Progressive Infrastructure

A number of existing progressive organizations, including some that have been created since 2000, are components of the rapidly evolving progressive infrastructure.  Notable among them are Center for American Progress, Media Matters for America, Center for Policy Alternatives, Progressive Communicators Network, Commonweal Institute, Rockridge Institute, Progressive States Network, Campaign for America’s Future, Redefining Progress, ProgressNow and similar networks in other states, Demos, People for the American Way, Moveon.org, Progressive Communicators Network, SPIN Project, Fenton Communications, Public News Service, and Netroots Nation.  Each of these organizations has distinct capabilities and interests that are potentially complementary. Working within the context of a coordinated infrastructure, each of these organizations would be able to have still greater impact.

In March 2006, the Commonweal Institute convened the first Progressive RoundtableSM, the members of which were tasked with identifying the most urgent priorities for building the marketing and communications components of the progressive movement’s infrastructure.  Analysis of the event and its outcomes, plus feedback from the participants (donors and others) a year after the event revealed three ongoing needs:

1. Strong, clearly identified networks to drive the progressive movement;
2. Proactive coordination of progressive messaging and strategic planning; and
3. Donor education and closer cooperation between progressive funders and organizations working in the field.

The continuing emphasis on the need for coordination and network development suggests that, despite the creation of a number of new infrastructure organizations, these functions are still underdeveloped and underfunded.

Conclusion

The past five years have seen substantial progress toward creation of progressive political infrastructure in the United States.  More rapid progress will be made if progressives – including political funders and philanthropists -- consider the full range of functions of political infrastructure can serve, the value of long-term movement thinking, and the critical importance of coordination and network development.  

Note:

Much of this paper derives from an earlier Commonweal Institute publication, “Creating Progressive Infrastructure Now: An Action Plan for Reclaiming America’s Heart and Soul,” by Leonard M. Salle and Katherine Forrest, January 2005.

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