What is progressive politics?

Implicit in the word progressive is the sense of change or progress toward a better society. Originally used to refer to an American political reform movement in the early 20th Century, the term was adopted in the late 1960s by some people on the American left who wanted to distinguish their politics from that of liberals who were then in positions of power at many levels of government and were the object of pressure and criticism from the left. As American political liberalism receded in the following decades, many liberals came to adopt the appellation of progressive, even as the content of their politics in some cases became more conservative or centrist.

Because there are many different types of progressives, we begin our study of progressive strategy by including substantially all self-described progressives. By proceeding in this way, we believe that a valuable initial product of our study will be the clarification of the goals or objectives of different types of self-described progressives.

The category of political progressive should not be conflated with the category of Democrat. Only a significant minority of Democrats are truly progressive and the proportion of conservatives and centrists in positions of influence in the party grows the closer one gets to Washington, DC. Only some progressives identify themselves with the Democratic Party. Others are fiercely independent of parties or are Green Party members or are members of other minor parties. By providing a reasonably objective classification of progressives, PSSP will contribute a more accurate description of the political spectrum on the American left and provide a sounder basis for strategic planning.

What do we mean by mapping?

Initially we are used a traditional hierarchical classification system to organize the strategic ideas and plans we find. This system includes categories such as goals and objectives, ways and tactics, and means and resources. Mapping develops a spacial/associative relationship between the elements of the classified strategies.

What do we mean by strategic gaps?

Strategic gaps are missing or underdeveloped elements of a grand strategy. An example of a familiar progressive strategic gap is "a shortage of money resources." It is a familiar complaint that the right has more wealthy institutional and individual supporters. Essays about progressive strategy almost always have a paragraph about the need for more money, but rarely go deep below the surface of the issue or attempt to offer a systematic approach to a solution.

Mapping provides a ready method for discovering gaps and we expect that the specification of such gaps will be a major contribution of our study. Once they are specified we will know better what work needs to be done in order to develop an effective strategy.