Emancipation Party
In order to support the Monetary Reforms outlined a new political party, the Emancipation Party (“EP”), will be formed. The primary goal of the EP will be to push for the election of political candidates who will support the proposal the Constitutional Amendments necessary to begin implementing the EP’s reforms of Jubilee and FreeMoney.
As EP’s initial platform will be narrowly focused on enacting the Constitutional Amendments, EP legislators will be free to “vote their conscience” with respect to other issues. We expect that this will make the EP more like the political parties of the past, in that our legislators will not be highly polarized along the conventional “left-right” spectrum.
Membership Dues Supported
The EP will fight the pernicious effects of big money in politics by refusing to be bought. The EP will be based on an entirely different model than today’s other American political parties: it will be a “dues paying membership party”.
Each member of EP will pay monthly dues of $20 in cash or in services (such as circulating petitions or handing out fliers). EP will also have a reduced price membership at $5 per month for low income individuals for whom the $20 month dues would be an economic hardship.
Party Ethics
The EP will operate at all time in an entirely legal, Constitutional, and ethical manner. For instance, the EP will not engage in civil disobedience: all mass meetings, demonstrations, etc will have all required permits and such events will be conducted in a disciplined and peaceful manner.
Calls by EP Members or affiliates to engage in illegal or unethical behavior should be considered to be the work of “agents provocateur”, and should not be followed, and should be reported to the Party offices.
No Candidate Fund Raising
The election campaigns of all EP candidates will be funded exclusively by the party. EP candidates will NOT be permitted to “fund raise”. This will have three HUGE effects:
1) EP candidates can PROVE that they are not brought by the special interests that fund most current campaigns;
2) The EP can recruit a better quality of candidate, because we are not limited to prospective candidates that can tolerate spending 60% of their time fundraising;
3) EP candidates can spend much more time actually meeting with people and really campaigning on their principles as opposed to the constant fundraising that consumes most candidate time today.
Grass Roots and Network Evangelism
Because they are actually dues paying members who have made a real commitment to their party, not just folks who checked a box on their voter registration form, we expect that EP members will be much more active in promoting the party and its candidates than the average member of today’s political parties.
EP will be designed from the ground up to take advantage of modern social networking and communications tools to keep members fully informed and to mobilize them for effective action on behalf of the party.
Practicing Real Transparency
EP will practice the “Real Transparency” standard that we preach for FreeMoney. ALL receipts and expenditures by EP or its affiliates will be viewable online, in real time. In essence the “check register” of the party’s bank account will be publicly viewable.
Practical?
While some might question whether a dues paying organization like EP could have the clout to compete in the noisy marketplace of American politics, the dues from one million members (less than one-half of one percent of the American voting age population), would yield $240 million per year. That’s enough to make a BIG noise! In addition we could expect serious work on behalf of the party from a goodly portion of those one million connected and mobilized members.
Suppose Our Ideas Are Co-Opted?
Whether the EP is the final electoral vehicle whereby our Reforms occur, is essentially irrelevant. It is quite possible that the EP may serve a function analogous to that of the 19th century and early 20th century progressive parties that never achieved significant electoral success but eventually saw many of their programs adopted by the Teddy Roosevelt Progressive Republicans and later by the Woodrow Wilson Democrats. The Reforms are what we are after, building a Party is merely the most straightforward means to those ends.
Uses of Party Funds
There will be three main uses for the EP’s funds:
Funding Election Campaigns
EP will be very strategic in how it allocate funds to campaigns. The EP’s strategic point of view will have to be a dynamic one, changing over time – but always directed towards supporting the adoption of the EP Reforms.
Initially, the EP will concentrate its campaign budget on a very focused list of races where EP supported candidates have a reasonable chance to win. Having a presence in local, state and federal level, no matter how small the beginnings, will be significant as it will allow the EP elected members to initiate legislative action to support the EP Reforms.
Eventually, EP will have the capability to run serious races across the country and for most elected office. Unlike the other parties, where campaigns are candidate-centric, the EP could run a coordinated, party driven campaign on behalf of all of our candidates, which could well be much more cost effective.
Operating the EP Organization
There many things that the EP organization can do to spread the EP memes and to recruit new members such as actively recruiting new members, creating and circulating memetically powerful materials, managing relations with the media.
The EP will also invest more in having a powerful grassroots organization than is typical of today’s parties.
People who have actually chosen to PAY to be a member of a party are much more likely to mobilizable on behalf of the party. Thus, a portion of the funds raised will be allocated to supporting a widespread, powerful organization of our members. More on this below under “EP Organization”
Recruiting New Members
Since our membership is also our source of funding, it is a good investment in growth to use EP funds to actively recruit new members. As with any direct response campaign, we will experiment with methods and audiences until we find combinations that works, and will then scale those up until they stop working.
We will have both Members and Supporters
EP’s membership funded model provides many advantages but it may also keep many people who are basically in agreement with the EP program from actually joining the party initially.
Thus a very important part of our thinking will have to be how to gain such non-member supporters, and how to co-support them in such a way that we retain their support. It is also highly likely that the supporter-but-not-member base will be our most fruitful group for recruiting full members.
Party Governance
One of the things we learn from history is that all too often worthy political revolutions (and EP will be seen as revolutionary, despite being peaceful and legal) are corrupted by Supreme Leaders and cults of personality. Whatever final form the Party organization takes, it should include checks and balances on power, and serious term limits.
Below is a first draft idea on Party governance. It will require considerable additional thought.
President
The President serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the EP. The leadership, however, will be of the “strong cabinet” variety where the President will not have the authority to unilaterally set policy but will be responsible for the execution of the policy, plans and priorities approved by the Party Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees.
While the President will participate in the making of policy and priorities, it will only be in the context of his membership in the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees.
The President will be appointed by the Board of Trustees and will be subject to re-approval or dismissal on an annual basis by a majority vote.
The President can be dismissed at any time by a vote of 2/3rds of the Board of Trustees.
The President will have a lifetime term limit of a total of 10 years in office, whether continuous or not.
Party Executive Committee
They key operational decision making and priority setting body of the EP will be the Party Executive Committee which will consist of the President, heads of Memetics Evangelism, Data and Analysis, the Ground Organization, Finance- Administration-Operations, and two members of the Board of Trustees appointed by that body.
The Executive Committee will meet weekly, chaired by the President or his designee and will review all proposed policy and priority changes. The Party Executive Committee will also review the proposed Quarterly Budgets of the various operating departments.
All significant actions or new commitment of funds of the EP, including Quarterly Budgets, will require a majority vote of the Party Executive Committee to be approved.
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees will consist of 30 members, who will be elected by the party membership for three year terms. 20 of the Trustees will represent geographic districts of approximately equal Party Membership. 10 of the Trustees will be elected “at large” by all Party Members.
After the first group of thirty trustees has been elected, they will be divided into three equal “classes’ at random. The first class will indeed serve three year terms. The Second class will serve a two year term, and the third class will serve a one year term. After the initial group of 30, subsequent elections will be for full three year terms, with the three classes of 10 each being elected in their own year. For clarification, see how the US Constitution specified the staggered terms of the US Senate.
The President will also be a member of the Board of Trustees and during his term as President will not be subject to Trustee term limits.
The Board of Trustees will meet at least quarterly and, at the last regular meeting in each calendar year, will elect a Chairman who will preside for the coming year and a Vice Chairman who will preside in the absence of the Chairman. The President will not be eligible for election as Chairman or Vice Chairman.
At the initial meeting of the Board of Trustees, they will elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman for the first calendar year of operation.
Upon email request of a majority of the trustees, specifying an identical agenda, the Chairman shall within 96 hours, convene a telephonic trustee meeting with the agenda as specified by those calling the meeting.
The Board of Trustees will, from time to time, review and edit the Party Platform. Approval of changes, additions, or subtractions from the Platform shall be by a super majority vote of 22 out of 30 trustees so voted at two consecutive Trustee meetings. Should the number of trustees be changed in the future, the super majority to amend the Platform will be 2/3rd rounded up + 1.
The Board of Trustees will appoint the President for a one year term, subject to annual renewal, up to the term limits for that office. The Board of Trustees may dismiss the President at any time by a 2/3rds vote with the President not allowed to vote.
At the last quarterly meeting each calendar year of the Board of Trustees the President will present a proposed Annual Budget that has been approved by the Party Executive Committee. The Board of Trustees will retain final budgetary authority and can accept the proposed budget or modify it by majority vote.
At each quarterly meeting the President, or his designee, will provide up to date financial results including a comparison against the approved Annual Budget. Should unfolding events indicate that changes to the Annual Budget, the President, with prior approval of the Party Executive Committee, will propose changes to the Annual Budget which the Board of Trustees can accept or modify by majority vote.
The Board of Trustees will appoint an audit committee of at least three members, none of whom is an employee or officer of the Party, to oversee an annual independent outside audit of the financial affairs of the Party. The result of the audit will be made publically available.
Trustees will be subject to a lifetime term limit of 12 years, whether continuous or not.