Draft of four resolutions from progressive strategy dialogue PMA at USSF, 6/24/10

Draft of four resolutions from progressive strategy dialogue PMA at USSF, 6/24/10

Electoral Reform for People’s, Not Corporate, Control

Whereas, we live in a racist, sexist and class oppressive society, and
Whereas, the United States is now now, nor has it ever been, a genuine democracy, and
Whereas, our electoral system is designed to protect the interests of the rich and powerful, and,
Whereas the people must be able to elect representatives to government in an open, transparent and democratic way if we are to meet our needs and the needs of our threatened environment; therefore:
We support a range of pro-democracy reforms to the way people are elected to political office, in particular:

• fair access to the ballot and debates for independent candidates and third parties;
• publicly-financed elections;
• proportional representation instead of winner-take-all for councils and legislatures;
• instant runoff voting for election to a single office;
• a national popular vote for President and abolition of the Electoral College;
• full enfranchisement of formerly incarcerated persons;
• no electronic voting unless there is a publicly-counted paper ballot to verify correct vote totals;
• an end to various forms of voter suppression and intimidation that are particularly directed at voters in communities of color; and
• additional steps to transform decision-making mechanisms so that the people have full input into the decisions that affect our lives.

Common Local Demonstrations and Actions

We support a range of actions besides voting in support of a people’s agenda on issues:

• brown bag vigils that are visible and educational at the offices of local Congresspeople and other elected officials;
• principled alliance-building with other organizations who share similar positions on issues;
• town hall meetings that incorporate “democracy education” for the people;
• media accountability and vigilance for coverage of our actions;
• nonviolent civil disobedience as strategically appropriate and needed;
• street corner visibility and activism;
• actively search for unity, deal with differences and conflicts in a respectful and positive way;
• utilize other tactics like “dances for democracy” and “shadow governments”

End Corporate Rule

Whereas powerful and unaccountable corporations are ruling us, controlling governments and committing ecocide,
We support an abolition of the legal doctrine of “corporate personhood, which is the illegitimate legal doctrine that allows corporations to claim to be “persons” with constitutional rights. Only human beings have constitutional rights. People must assert their right to control corporations, including through control over corporate charters. We reject campaign contributions being considered as “free speech” and support public financing, not corporate financing, of elections.

Building a Healthy Movement Culture

We support inclusion, anti-racist/sexist/class/heterosexist/ageist education, democracy education, solidarity with the historically oppressed, creative processes for meetings, facilitation training, and conflict resolution training so that our movement is more unified on a principled basis and better able to wage the struggle for transformational change.