A renewal of the founding promise of democracy in America.

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Participation in democracy begins with having a clear, plain-spoken sense of what you believe and the direction you want your country to go, and communicating it regularly to family, friends, associates, and government representatives through ordinary channels: conversations, letters and emails, public hearings, and of course elections.

Read The Promise. Think about whether it expresses values of government and community you believe in or how it differs from your own. Compare the Promise with other statements of progressive values (see our links), including those of the preamble to the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution available online through the National Archives. Contact us at Democratic Promise and let us know of basic progressive values you feel we should include.

Put together your own statement of values, from any or all of these sources. Start thinking about the values on your list, and start talking about them with friends and associates. When you read about a new city, state, or federal law or policy, think about how it fits—or doesn't fit—with the values from your statement.

Why write anything down? Why refer to value statements from DemocraticPromise.org or any where else? Because political power is exercised largely through speech (written or spoken). There is no better way to get comfortable with speaking and writing our values than to, well, speak and write our values.

Use values from the Promise, or from your own value statement, when communicating with your government representatives. Browse the Promise for principles that can help you voice why you believe in the solution you are proposing, and add these principles to the facts of your argument. Find more tips on the Write Your Representatives page.

Don't be afraid of tradition. Democracy, founding values, our Constitutional system of government, established institutions, the American flag. Don't be afraid to believe in something.

Don't be afraid to promote your values. Remember, you are not telling people what to believe: You are telling them what you believe, and you are proposing that they consider believing, or at least respecting, these progressive values too.

Promote your progressive values through all media available, in letters and calls to your government representatives and to newspapers and television stations, on the internet, in schools and churches and social gatherings.

Promote your progressive values and support progressive candidates at every level of government: city, county, state, and federal.

Promote your progressive values every day of every year. Values are too important to wait for elections. And the values actively promoted and communicated between elections are the values that end up on the agenda at election time.

Encourage your local political organizations to remain active year-round and to have a reachable contact person year-round, because no one wants to join a club where the doors are closed and no one answers the phone.

Know the system and know your representatives. The representatives we elect are accountable to us. If you live in Kansas, write and call your state representatives and US congresspersons in Kansas. Californians will lobby California. Georgians will lobby Georgia. Oregonians will lobby Oregon. And always use values from your statement when you lobby on any issue.

Know the value of local and national organizing. Keep informed and in touch with local and national progressive organizations, and invest in America's progressive future by donating your talent, time, and dollars to the institutions of your choice.

Know the value of personal bonds. Share your promise and your ideas with your friends, family, and contacts all across America.

Keep your promise. If we lose an election, we don't lose our values and start looking for more popular ones. Values are for the long term. The harder the going gets, the more we need our values to guide us.

Resources

• Find Your Representatives, their contact information, and their records.
• Write Your Representatives with the help of step-by-step tips and sample letters.
• Links will take you to other sites with information on issues, voting, legislation, and political inspiration.
• Recommended Reading on democracy, the economy, government, and how Americans are reclaiming their liberty by becoming active participants in American political life.
• Print the Promise to distribute copies in your town.