Andrew Golis

Ever since Dean (and many others running for DNC chair) began to proclaim themselves “Reform Democrats” there seems to have begun a conversation not only about whether or not that’s the right approach to reenergizing and refocusing the party, but also about what exactly that means. I have a few thoughts as to why I think it is a good frame and what it means to me.

The Democrats should refocus themselves as defenders of democracy it self. They can continue to push a liberal ideology if they use a Harringtonian (just got out of a class talking about this, hence the jargon) model of democracy that includes economic and social rights in addition to political rights. Without true economic and social rights, political rights can never be equal. In this way, advancing a liberal ideology can be framed in the context of defending democracy itself.

To be clear what I mean by this: It is undemocratic for the wealthy to have more political power because of their wealth. The poor’s lack of economic and social rights hinders their ability to participate in government and therefore makes their political rights second class to the wealthy. To fix this, we need to:

- reform our electoral system to make it truly democratic, a system in which everyone has equal say and equal power.

- extend economic and social rights that allow the disadvantaged to fight for their own rights.

- fight the concentration of economic and media power that makes political power unequal.

- etc. etc.

I’m not sure if I articulated that well, but that’s what a Reform Democrat is to me, and that’s what I think will help us create a new frame to combat the Republican’s.

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