Left Behind: Social Movements, Parties, and the Politics of Reform

How does social reform occur in America? Is it through major public policy innovation? Is it through periodic partisan or electoral alignment? Or is it through moments of popular mobilization we call social movements? Can we explain the origin, development, and legacy of the civil rights movement by focusing on Brown v. Board of Education, Little Rock, the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, bussing and affirmative action? Do we focus on the electoral dynamics, the liberal revolution in Congress in 1958, and the landslide reelection of the president in 1964? Or do we start with the Montgomery bus boycott, the sit-ins, SCLC, SNCC, CORE, the freedom rides, the marches, and other forms of direct action? In this paper I argue, first, that institutional constraints built into our electoral system inhibit the formation of social reform initiatives from the inside government officials, elected officials, or parties. Social reform initiatives are initiated, however, but from the outside, as social movements. Second, these social movements unfold in a uniquely American way. They make moral claims. They employ organizational forms to strategically link local action with national goals in intense, outcome focused, campaigns. And they develop leadership skilled in arts of collective action what de Tocqueville called knowledge of how to combine. Third, as social movement leaders find that achieving their goals requires new public policy, they gain leverage by engaging in electoral politics, most often aligned with a political party, which they may well transform in the process. Fourth, although social movements form and reform around fault lines in the American polity of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, class, and generation, in the last 30 years this dynamic has produced far more change on the right than on the left. One reason is that the right has made more robust linkages among its social movement base, its partisan politics, and public policy than the left.* Explaining how this process works and why the left lost its movement - may help explain why this has occurred and clarify options available to those who would change it. * Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, Off-Center: The Republican Revolution & the Erosion of American Democracy, (Yale University Press, 2005). The authors show how the conservative movement has leveraged its partisan influence to dominate public policy.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 34. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

Civic Associations That Work: The Contributions of Leadership to Organizational Effectiveness

Why are some civic associations more effective at advancing their public agendas, engaging members, and developing leaders? We introduce a multi-dimensional framework for analyzing the comparative effectiveness of member-based civic associations in terms of public influence, member engagement, and leader development. Theoretical expectations in organization studies, sociology, political science, and industrial relations hold that organizations benefiting from either a favorable environment or abundant resources will be most effective. Using systematic data on the Sierra Clubs 400 local organizations, we assess these factors alongside an alternative approach focusing on the role of leaders, how they work together, and the activities they carry out to build capacity and conduct programs. While we find modest support for the importance of an organizations available resources and external environment, we find strong evidence for each of our three outcomes supporting our claim that effectiveness in civic associations depends to a large degree on internal organizational practices.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 36. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

Why Lead Labor?: Projects and Pathways in California Unions, 1984-2001

This paper explores how union leadership has developed over the last 20 years. While other studies have focused on the careers of top leaders or new recruits, we examine the careers of rising leaders over time. Finding that demographics is not enough to account for their career paths, we attend to the ways these leaders articulate their motivations, goals, and means of achieving them—what we call their “projects.” Projects—and how they change over time—help us explain not only why they joined unions, but why some stayed and others left

Public Narrative, Collective Action, and Power

Focuses on public narrative, defined as a leadership practice of translating values into action, based on the fact that values are experienced emotionally. Narrative is the discursive means people use to access values that equip them with the courage to make choices under conditions of uncertainty. Leadership requires understanding that while some emotions can inhibit mindful action, others can facilitate it. Leaders engage others in purposeful action by mobilizing those feelings that facilitate action to trump feelings that inhibit action. Organizations that lack a story lack an identity, a culture, core values thatcan be articulated and drawn on to motivate. Leaders learn to tell the story of their organization by identifying the choice points of the organization's journey, recounting experiences that communicate the values embedded in the work of the organization. Public narrative, understood as a leadership art, is an invaluable resource to stem the tides of apathy, alienation, cynicism, and defeatism

The Relationship of Leadership Quality to the Political Presence of Civic Associations

Member-based civic associations, or citizen groups, have two crucial roles in American democracy. They advocate for members' interests in the public arena, but also operate as Tocquevillian “schools of democracy” linking citizens to politics and equipping them with the skills of democratic citizenship. Yet scant research has examined the interrelationships of these two roles. Does the work that civic associations do in developing democratic participants enhance the work they do advocating for members' interests in the public arena? We bring together two previously disparate strands of research on civic associations by arguing that a key factor affecting the political presence of civic associations is leadership quality. We focus on the relationship of leadership quality to political presence, using data from a unique 2003 study of 226 local entities of the Sierra Club. We show that organizations with more skilled and committed leaders have higher levels of political presence. This contrasts with previous research that has focused primarily on community context and resources as explanatory factors. This study shows that political presence is related to the extent to which leaders develop their skills and demonstrate commitment to the organization

Effectiveness In Civic Associations: Leader Development, Member Engagement And Public Influence In The Sierra Club

For much of our history, civic associations have served as schools of democracy for the millions of Americans to whom they taught leadership skills, democratic governance and public engagement. Civic associations rooted in a membership to whom they are accountable, in governance by elected leaders, and in a commitment to public advocacy not only make claims on public officials but teach the practice of democracy itself by engaging citizens in working together on common goals. In fact, many have argued that the recent trend replacing such associations with professional advocates and professional service providers has eroded valuable civic infrastructure (Putnam, 2000; Skocpol, 2003). But not all civic associations are in decline. Some continue to thrive as they develop leaders, engage their members and influence public life—and afford scholars the opportunity to learn why they work when they do

Leadership, Membership, and Voice: Civic Associations That Work

Why are some civic associations more effective than others? The authors introduce a multidimensional framework for analyzing the effectiveness of civic associations in terms of public recognition, member engagement, and leader development. Using original surveys of local Sierra Club organizations and leaders, the authors assess prevailing explanations in organization and movement studies alongside a model highlighting leadership and internal organizational practices. Although available resources and favorable contexts matter, the core findings show that associations with more committed activists, that build organizational capacity, that carry out strong programmatic activity, and whose leaders work independently, generate greater effectiveness across outcomes