In recent years, American society has become ripe for the creation of a competitive progressive party. Generally most people have favored progressive policies for decades, but since 2013, as discontent with the two major parties has grown, a clear majority has also come to support the creation of a third major party. And with the Democratic Party’s continued hostility toward it’s left-leaning politicians (e.g., Sanders, AOC, Mamdani), as well as its refusal to boldly fight an increasing fascistic Right, many more activists and voters may have become primed to consider third party alternatives.
At the same time, efforts to build a viable progressive party nationally haven’t taken off yet, in large part because they’ve lacked a credible strategy for gaining power or building a competent organization. They’ve either focused on accumulating endorsements and avoided participating in elections, or routinely promoted weak candidates in unwinnable races, or even accepted working primarily within the corporate-dominated Democratic Party. Moreover, the leaders of some progressive party-building groups have lacked the professional skills and style essential for creating a stable and well-functioning operation. In sum, a striking gap has developed between the growing potential for a competitive progressive party and various failed, stalled or doomed attempts to build it.
Acutely aware of the problems above, several longtime progressive and third party activists from across the country began working together in 2018 to encourage the creation of a more solid foundation for a new progressive party. Eventually, they settled on the name “Progressive Party Builders”, which reflected their mission. Over the past several years, they have held workshops, appeared in videos, and published articles on behalf of this party building agenda, with an emphasis on identifying and exploiting opportunities for making relevant organizing and electoral breakthroughs.