Unmasking the Hidden Power of Cities

We are in an unprecedented moment in U.S. history. It is a time of resurgent racism and inequality, but also of newly energized and ambitious activism. Collecting our thoughts on how the progressive movement can meet both the challenges and opportunities of this time, my colleagues Nikki Forunato Bas of Partnership for Working Families, Donald Cohen of In The Public Interest, and I have co-authored a report on the tremendous potential that lies within our cities.

We propose that the most effective way to reclaim American democracy is to invest in progressive organizing at the city level. Throughout the country, cities provide the diversity, social bonds, union strength, coalitional relationships and experience necessary to achieve governing power in the interest of the common good.

Despite deep investments by right-wing interests to diminish government and promote a radically pro-corporate agenda, city-based organizations continue to win an extraordinary range of policies that improve people’s lives, from wage increases and public school improvements, to affordable housing funding and climate resiliency solutions, to immigrant protections and criminal justice reform. Support to expand organizing in cities can drive and implement a new forward-looking vision for the country as a whole.

A few statistics illustrate the scale of potential power in cities and metro regions:

• Nearly half of the entire U.S. population — over 152 million people — lives in the metro areas surrounding the nation’s top 50 cities.
• Those same metro areas are centers of diversity, containing over 60 percent of the nation’s total population of color.
• They are also economic centers, generating $9.2 trillion, or nearly 60 percent of the total U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
• Local governments in the U.S. spend about $1.8 trillion per year, roughly ten percent of the nation’s GDP, and thus have a huge effect on regional economies.
• Local governments are significant sources of largely middle class jobs. They employ 14 million people, with a total payroll of $50.8 billion per year.
• As the saying goes, all politics is local. Polling data confirms that trust in government, essential to spreading and implementing a progressive agenda, is highest at the local level. City governments serve as policy laboratories, and they can drive a renewed faith in public solutions to our common problems.

Taking meaningful advantage of the powers and promise of cities requires two fundamental steps:

First, we need a strategic and focused investment in our cities’ progressive infrastructure to counter the multi-decade intellectual and capital support of right-wing organizations. Successful organizing in our cities is the basis for an expanded progressive reach in counties and states. Resources should be directed to support multiracial, regionally embedded community-labor coalitions that are grounded in grassroots leadership and operate with an intersectional analysis of how race, gender and immigration status, for example, inform the challenges they confront and the solutions they develop.

Second, we must arm city policy makers, new and experienced in their roles as leaders, with an understanding of how to use the myriad tools of governance for the common good. Local government officials have enormous discretion to build a human-centered economy and a healthier environment.

Corporate and right-wing interests have long recognized the potential of cities to drive a progressive agenda and in response have passed state preemption laws that attempt to strip local authority. Although state and federal governments should remain targets of movement resources, this report offers proven strategies that allow local leaders and activists to seize control of their legislative priorities. It also describes the capacities that enable activists and coalitions to successfully move and expand their agendas over a sustained period. A strengthened regional organizing and leadership infrastructure is paramount to tilting power toward the people.

Progressive governing power can transform our institutions and communities when policymakers assert the extensive, largely untapped authorities of cities to advance a people-centered and environmentally friendly agenda. Transformative governing power is not just about smart policy; it also enables people, especially those who have been historically excluded or underrepresented, to actively participate in decision making as advocates, voters, elected and appointed officials, and civic leaders. Cities provide the broadest opportunities for democratic participation and civic engagement.

We assert that a modest and focused investment — far less than is spent on a state ballot measure — in the top 50 cities and their metro regions can become the seed of American renewal. Expanding organizing resources to the metropolitan regions that encircle cities allows us to target the myriad of institutions that determine local policies — including counties, school boards, and air quality and water districts — and, ultimately, to drive statewide changes.

Here is a summary of our findings:

1. Cumulatively, cities hold the levers of power that can build an equitable economy and sustainable environment, thereby driving national policy advancements.
2. Cities are already incubating and demonstrating the popularity and effectiveness of progressive policies.
3. Cities are where we can begin rebuilding trust in government.
4. Cities are where policymakers learn the nuts and bolts of leadership and governance.
5. Broad-based coalition building is the foundation for powerful regional influence.
6. Strength and capacity at the local level are key to overcoming state and federal preemption.
7. Significant, sustained investment in organizing and leadership capacity in cities and regions is integral to movement success.

My organization, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, along with our partners like In The Public Interest, and our national network of affiliates in Partnership for Working Families, have committed to advancing local strategies for the change that working people need. But there isn’t one campaign, one strategy, one organization, or one city that can rebuild American democracy on its own. In order to achieve widespread fairness and equity in our institutions, progressives need an expansive view of the movement and their own ability to effect change in communities throughout the country. A successful progressive movement requires a sophisticated understanding of power, an aligned governing philosophy, the commitment and resources to expand and sustain its organizing reach, coalitional strength grounded in true diversity, and — no less — faith and persistence in our values.

This post is an excerpt from Unmasking the Hidden Power of Cities: Using Their Authorities, Energy and Promise to Secure The Common Good, a paper co-authored by Roxana Tynan, Nikki Fortunato Bas, and Donald Cohen.