Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts is a group of concerned citizens organized to promote social justice, political reform, and progressive values throughout the Commonwealth. We are deeply concerned that people have become disconnected from the democratic process and that many of the progressive ideals upon which the Democratic Party was founded have been forgotten. We aim to work within the Democratic Party through direct issue advocacy, promotion of responsible government, and the support and recruitment of progressive candidates for elected office. The organization is open to anyone who shares our vision of a better Massachusetts and welcomes people of all ethnicities, races, and sexual orientations.
The current members of the Statewide Coordinating Committee (SCC) are:
(in PDF)
Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts is a group of citizens who are deeply concerned that people have become disconnected from the democratic process and that many of the progressive ideals upon which the Democratic Party was founded have been forgotten.
PDM will engage people in an ongoing campaign to:
We aim to work with and within the Democratic Party to promote progressive values in our society.
Progressive politics advances the idea that a primary function of government is to promote the well being of all citizens, not just that of one group at the expense of another. We believe that government should be an expression of the highest aspirations of people to make better lives for themselves, for their children, and for their communities. We believe therefore that government must play a vital role in improving health care, education, public safety and the environment; in furthering economic and social justice; and in supporting our country's peaceful and constructive engagement with the world community. A cornerstone of the progressive approach to public policy is to promote fair and equitable treatment of all people regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or financial status.
For more on progressive values, we recommend a speech by Bill Moyers that you can find in the Related Readings section of www.progressivedems.org.
[ from “Devolve This!” by Joel Rogers, in the Related Readings section of www.progressivedems.org]
“Our national constitutional design enumerates limited powers for national government and assumes plenary powers of states ... The result is that states do by far the largest share of governing in America. They write most law and give content to even more through interpretation and administration. Most government that affects us in our everyday social roles--as workers, consumers, taxpayers, owners and citizens--tends first or finally to run through states. Economic development, health care and abortion access, privacy rights, marriage and the family, wage standards, public safety, criminal justice, prisons, air and water quality, education and training, consumer protection, transportation, libraries and other community public goods--these are just a few examples. In many of these critical areas, in fact, states shoulder primary responsibility. “
“With real government power in the states, progressives could demonstrate that our ideas actually work--that a government run in our way is more efficient and accountable, that a "high road" economy of the sort we favor delivers higher living standards, that social service and insurance systems financed our way are cheaper, with deeper coverage. We could in effect take a page from the original Progressives of a century ago--the folks who worked out at the state level many of the ideas that later informed the New Deal and who, before it became a cliche, gave real meaning to the idea of states as "laboratories of democracy." We could try new things, test their effects, compare them across states and surface the best new ideas into national debate.”
Also, while the Democratic Party has become very adept at raising money on a national level, it has almost completely neglected the need to develop leadership. State and local government is where many people take their first steps in electoral politics - school committees, city and town boards, and state legislatures. The radical right has certainly paid attention to this.
Candidates and issue campaigns come and go, but there is no on-going organization that systematically cultivates and builds new political leadership and electoral strength across election cycles. PDM is building such an organization: a statewide, sustainable, progressive Democratic power-base in order to provide support, campaign workers, and an increased constituency for progressive candidates and issues.
By building this organization, supported by its membership, able to administer funds and to provide programs such as organizer training and leadership institutes, we will reconnect the Democratic Party with its progressive roots, and seek to make progressive values real in public policy.
PDM is committed to strengthening the Democratic Party, and many of us are members and officers of Party city and town committees. There are three basic reasons why we have decided to form an organization separate from the Democratic
Party, yet committed to its growth and betterment.
First, the Massachusetts Democratic Party has become weak, fractured, and clubbish. Although the Democratic Party is the largest in the Commonwealth, it represents only about one third of registered voters. The Republicans have won the last four gubernatorial races. While the state legislature is overwhelmingly Democratic (about 170/200) and the Party platform is a broadly progressive document, many of the major progressive planks in the party platform have not been implemented through legislation. Meanwhile, the number of registered Democrats continues its steady decline while the percentage of unenrolled voters is growing. Therefore, many Democratic legislators are less concerned about what the Party stands for, and more concerned about perceptions of what it takes to be reelected.
Second, in order to build the voice of progressives in Party affairs and in public life, we need more progressive legislators. Therefore, we will help elect new progressive Democrats to the legislature and support those who are already committed to enacting the party platform, wherever we find them. To accomplish this, we will support progressive candidates in Party primaries (something the Party usually, and very properly, does not do)
Third, PDM believes that the Democratic Party encompasses the basic values needed for political and social change in Massachusetts. But by functioning in an organized fashion, as a progressive voice in the party, we believe that we can make a far greater difference than by merely becoming Party activists. PDM also believes that third parties and third party candidates unnecessarily divide progressives against themselves and thereby lend support to the Republican Party rather than bringing about needed political change. We hope that one result of our activism will be that more people will become inspired to become deeply involved in the life of the Democratic Party.
The last gubernatorial election left Massachusetts with yet another Republican governor and yet another legislature dominated by Democrats unable or unwilling to advance the Democratic Party's ideals. Distressed by this development, a number of people who had been inspired by the gubernatorial campaign of Robert Reich began to explore the possibility of building an organization that could assert a broadly progressive political program. For others, the untimely death of Senator Paul Wellstone, an eloquent and courageous progressive Democrat, sparked similar conversations. These conversations converged in creating PDM, an organization that will have the capacity to provide grassroots support for candidates whose values are rooted in the best progressive traditions of the Democratic Party.
On June 28, 2003, PDM held a kick-off meeting which drew over 125 people from 45 cities and towns across Massachusetts. This was the beginning of a yearlong campaign to build the foundation of the organization, invite people to participate in the process, and to rethink what it means to be a progressive and a Democrat. Since then, five chapters have emerged across the state and are engaged in the development of the statewide organization.
PDM is based on the idea of local membership; we have over five hundred members from around Massachusetts. Members who are interested in creating a local chapter first form a Local Organizing Committee (LOC) whose mission is to promote the development of the PDM chapter in their community. PDM's Statewide Coordinating Committee (SCC) determines when a Local Organizing Committee has created a viable group that should be chartered as a PDM Chapter. The SCC also oversees the development, day to day operations, and business affairs of PDM.
A PDM Chapter is committed to:
We currently have five chartered chapters in Northampton, South Hadley, Lexington, Brookline, and Cape Ann, and Local Organizing Committees working to form chapters in the Southern Berkshires and Arlington.
Absolutely not! PDM is a place to learn, to share knowledge and develop skills. We are welcoming each other to a great undertaking in which many hands, heads and hearts are needed. Our approach to organizing is rooted in the finest traditions of community, civil rights and labor organizing. PDM regularly holds trainings in recruiting, organizing, and political and electoral skills.
Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts is an independent, not-for-profit organization.