MoveOn - United States

In 1998, frustrated with what they saw as "the partisan warfare in Washington D.C." 2 California entrepreneurs launched a petition on the MoveOn website to "Censure President Clinton and Move On to Pressing Issues Facing the Nation." Within days hundreds of thousands of individuals had signed up; organisers began looking for ways these voices could be heard.

MoveOn's key strategy is networking for action. The movement is based solely on word of mouth; members are asked to communicate with others about key issues by sending MoveOn's "action updates" to their email circles. That is, when there is a disconnect between broad public opinion and legislative action, MoveOn builds electronic advocacy groups. Every member has a voice in choosing the organisation's shared direction: Using MoveOn's ActionForum software, members propose priorities and strategies. The idea is that others will see and respond to those suggestions in the online forum; the most strongly supported ideas will become campaign priorities. In 2003, Iraq and media reform were the 2 top issues. Other focus areas have included environmental and energy issues and campaign finance. Once an action group is assembled, MoveOn provides information and tools with the goal of helping each individual have the greatest possible impact in his or her community.

In addition to the Internet, MoveOn uses the popular media as part of a call for fair and open access to that very media. The MoveOn.org Voter Fund runs television ads that are critical of President Bush's policies. For example, in January 2004 the group launched a television ad contest called "Bush in 30 Seconds"; the winning ad was to be aired during the annual Super Bowl football extravaganza, which is expected to draw 130 million viewers in the USA and 1 billion worldwide. CBS Television and its parent company, Viacom, refused to air the "Child's Pay" ad, which features images of children labouring at various blue-collar jobs (factory work, rubbish removal, and the like) and the words "Guess who's going to pay off President Bush's US$1 trillion deficit?" The network claimed to have a long-standing policy against running potentially controversial issue ads during the televised event; it also rejected an ad from the advocacy group People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. However, MoveOn learned that an issue ad by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy was set to air during the football game. In response, MoveOn launched a free speech campaign that involved placing an ad in the New York Times (click here to view it in PDF format) and an online petition, which MoveOn will deliver by email directly to CBS headquarters.

With the help of its volunteer corps, MoveOn also gets involved in community-based events - some of which have an international focus. For example, in March 2003 MoveOn was part of a coalition of organisations that sponsored "The Global Candlelight Vigil for Peace". Led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, people gathered together in over 6400 vigils in 129 countries to resist the United States' engagement in war with Iraq.

Democracy, Rights, Peace.

According to MoveOn, the United States' political system "revolves around big money and big media"; most citizens, they say, are left out. When it becomes clear that "'representatives' don't represent the public", the group urges, "the foundations of democracy are in peril".