Progressive Party Builders

Toward a real party for the people.

Our Mission

We need a third major party, which most Americans also want, and one that always fights for them — for economic, social, and environmental justice. It should be a strong champion for all ordinary Americans, including professionals and non-professionals, women and men, people from diverse ethnic, racial, religious and other cultural backgrounds, and others. And it should be completely independent not only of the Republicans and Democrats, but also the corporate interests that back them. Yet currently there is no such nationwide party, and up until now, no compelling plan to create one.

The United States, the richest yet most unequal advanced industrial society, urgently needs progressive change. Polls show that most Americans want it, yet both our corporate-dominated major political parties stand in the way. The Republican Party openly advocates regressive ideology and policies. Today’s Democratic Party makes gestures in the other direction, yet ultimately sides with its wealthy backers and repeatedly refuses to actively embrace progressivism.

A critical first step is to support the bottom-up development of viable progressive candidates and party-building organizations. That is the mission of the Progressive Party Builders (PPB) — to encourage the step-by-step growth of a truly competitive national progressive party. 

Our Strategy

What’s the main difference between the Progressive Party Builders and various unsuccessful attempts to create a competitive progressive third party in recent times? Most simply, the PPB focuses on building a strong party foundation first, by helping those in our movement become winning party organizers and candidates. Many anti-establishment progressives may be increasingly interested in this approach, as the deep corruption of the Democratic Party and its ingrained resistance to reform has become more obvious, as well as it’s failure to boldly counter the aggressive right-wing populism of the GOP.

More specifically, PPB aims to provide essential guidance to the growing number of citizens who want to create a serious, winning alternative to corporate duopoly. That can be decisive in convincing such people, especially those with valuable political skills, experience, and passion, to get and stay involved in this vital project. And even a modest boost in effective progressive party-building efforts could be a critical spark, fueling new election victories, more party organizing, and the powerful belief that a viable progressive party really is possible. It could be more than enough to get a winning new party off the ground in the next several years.