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Selected excerpts from"THE FUTURE OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS"to the League of Women Voters of CaliforniaBy Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, Ph.D., President, LWVUS
In other words, the League stands for a government, at all levels, that is as diverse as the people it governs-a government of the people. We stand for a government that is driven by the beliefs and the actions of an engaged citizenry--a government by the people. And we stand for a government that addresses the real concerns of all Americans-a government for the people.
And so what did the League's leaders do? Did they question whether the League was still viable? Did they consider packing it in and declaring they had accomplished what they set out to do-that they had "finished the fight," in founder Carrie Chapman Catt's immortal words, for full enfranchisement and equal rights for women? Of course they didn't. Marquerite Wells and the League's leaders in the 1940's responded with a vigorous program to direct more power and more resources to local Leagues. Equally important, the League's primary objective of political education for women was changed and broadened so the League now promoted, and I quote, "political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in govemment. "lt was as a result of these changes instituted in the 1940's that the League became a truly grassroots organization. And, as if to affirm the bold steps taken by the League's leaders to retool the organization, membership more than tripled by the 1950's from its low point during the dark days of the Depression. The closing years of the twentieth century mark a moment of transformation for the League, just as the 1940's were a moment of transformation. What are some of the issues we face today that are challenging us to transform ourselves, to change? Well, for one, the world of voluntarism has changed. In part, this is driven by our own success-the success of the League and other pioneers in the women's rights movement who created a climate in which increasing numbers of women could go to work and have careers and be valued for their contributions to society. The result is that an organization such as the League is competing for the limited amount of spare time we all have today-if indeed we can be said to have any spare time. A second issue we face today-and it's more of an opportunity than a challenge-is embodied in the changing demographics of our country and our communities. We've all heard the statistics about minorities becoming the majority in the United States sometime in the twenty-first century. And, unless we can reach out to diverse audiences and involve them in our work in active and rewarding ways-and in ways where people see real, quantifiable benefits arising from their participation-then we will be a relic of another time. The third issue facing the League that I want to mention to you today is more of a cultural issue. It has to do with how we get things done. There are very few, if any, public policy matters at the local, state or national level today where one organization, acting alone, can effect change. More often than not, change requires us to work in coalition with others around shared objectives and a shared vision for our communities and our country. Change also requires us to respect the needs of those working at the grassroots so they have the flexibility to set a policy agenda for their communities and to adopt the best strategies and tactics for making that agenda real. It's an old and cliched saying, but "Think globally, act locally" must be our mantra as we work to link neighborhood action to larger public policy issues. The Future Plan is built on three pillars: Impact, Visibility and Organizational Development. And already, the League's national staff has been reorganized to reflect these priorities. The League's program work also is being reorganized into four separate but interrelated streams of activity-all of them flowing from the headwaters of our goal to fulfill the promise of democracy. The four program areas are: *Project Citizen-Activities to reconnect citizens with government and get people more involved in their communities. *Project Voter-Activities to inform and motivate voters, enhance voter participation, and make elections relevant to citizens at home and abroad. *Project Diversity-Activities to engage disengaged citizens, including all voices in civic life, and moving our nation closer to the day when government truly looks like the governed. *Project Reform-Activities focusing on making the system work for all citizens, leveling the playing field for candidates and strengthening the democratic process. In order to fulfill the promise of democracy, we ourselves must make a promise--to our membership, to our communities, to our nation and to the world. We must promise, like our predecessors did in the 1930's and 1940's, that we will change so we can "finish the fight" that started in the nineteenth century when women first came together to lobby for the right to vote. We must promise to continue our work to encourage the informed and active participation of all citizens in government but to use new tools and new strategies to get the job done. I urge you not to let anyone tell you that the League of Women Voters is not a viable organization. Because we are. And we have to be. And the work we do today to restructure and retool ourselves for the century ahead will ensure that we remain viable and that the League can continue on its historic mission to bring our country ever closer to the ideal of a true democracy that is guided at all levels by the will and the wishes of the American people. I firmly believe that it is well within our grasp to become the leading grassroots organization in the United States.
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he League of Women Voters is the premier citizen participation organization in the United States. We stand for public trust and integrity at a time when public trust and integrity are in short supply. We stand for coming together when coming together is among the most important and most challenging tasks facing the American people. And we stand for participation and involvement and self-government at a time when all Americans need to focus anew on how fundamentally important these things are to our democracy.