SOLIDARITY COALITION PLATFORM
Are you satisfied with the way our society works for you, your neighbors, and everyone else? If not, now is the time to get involved and change the direction of the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP). This platform is a working document subject to democratic revision. It is intended to define policy directions and priorities our coalition will seek to implement, with democratic input from coalition members and the public along the way.
Currently, the Michigan Democratic Party operates against the democratic principles expressed in our State Bylaws and National Charter. This seriously undermines our ability to operate fairly, efficiently, effectively, sustainably and democratically. These deficiencies undermine our ability to win. To address these issues in the MDP, we propose the following improvements covering both internal MDP operations and civic government policies. Here are the headlines, more details in the chart and further below.
Headlines
- Create a culture of grassroots democracy: rule by all the people equally.
- Money out of politics, public election financing, raise taxes on big corporations and the 1%.
- Prioritize the common good, the public interest, including economic security for all.
- Address climate change at the scale of the problem, with a just transition.
- End genocide, prioritize peace, non-violent conflict resolution, local and global cooperation.
More Details
| Democratic Party Reform
(local, state, national) |
Civic Government (local, state, national) |
|
| 1 | Participation in the Michigan Democratic Party must be as easy, fair and democratic as possible. By-laws must be followed or democratically amended, following the principle of rule by all members equally. | All people are equally entitled to life, liberty, freedom, civil and human rights, including 1-person 1-vote democracy and government transparency. |
| 2 | Ban dark money, corporate, and big donor donations in Party primaries. | Legislate to ban large individual and corporate donations, and provide for public financing of elections to make running for office accessible to everyone. |
| 3 | Local, regional, and state Democratic Parties must work within their communities to strengthen the common good and build relationships by providing aid and services directly to residents, regardless of election outcomes | Ensure economic security for all, including public education, universal single-payer healthcare, worker co-ops, small business, the right to organize, nutrition, housing, child/elder/disability care, and transportation, among other life and family services. |
| 4 | Organize communities across Michigan to build popular support for necessary legislation, through education, and community engagement. | Prioritize state, national and global plans to mitigate and adapt to the reality of climate change, while ensuring a just transition to renewable energy systems. |
| 5 | Hold Party officials and members accountable for oppression and bias within the Party. Work toward a culture of fairness, inclusion, transparency, democracy, and mutual cooperation. | Hold elected officials accountable for biased or oppressive policies domestically and globally. Ensure all people have universal human rights, including individual and collective self-determination, liberty, rights, and freedom. |
More Information
The Solidarity coalition is organized to democratically win the power to implement a democratic process to develop and refine the above general concepts into practical civic government and Party operations, rules, and policies. Below are some examples of the kinds of specific changes we are aiming for.
- Michigan Democratic Party Members’ Bill of Rights and State Central Reform to ensure democracy, rule by all the members equally, in the Party. Why is democracy in the Democratic Party critically important to winning elections? Science demonstrates that (1) groups using democracy to make decisions make vastly better decisions than any other decision making system, because they access the wisdom of crowds, and (2) the only way to manage common resources sustainably are Dr. Elinor Ostrom’s 8 Core Design Principles (CDPs), which taken together amount to democratic management by all stakeholders. Dr. Ostrom won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics for her work on common resource management and her 8 CDPs. Our common resources are staff and volunteer time and energy, as well as Party financial and infrastructure resources. If we don’t manage these sustainably, we can’t win contested elections regularly – right now, we aren’t even seriously contesting many elections in significant part because we don’t manage common resources sustainably.
- The key to winning elections is to have more people on your side and motivated to vote. That doesn’t happen when Democrats stay in their bubble and don’t walk their talk. We are the Party of empathy and love. Let’s show it by getting involved in our communities as Democrats. Last year, Michael Moore suggested Democrats put up billboards and ads in the paper and on social media saying, “Need Help? Call a Democrat (xxx) xxx-xxxx.” And then get ready for the calls.Local Democratic Parties in some counties already do a pretty good job of caring about their neighbors; volunteering at food banks, Habitat builds, highway clean-up, etc. This pronouncement of “Prioritizing the Common Good…” takes our community involvement even further. In Gladwin County, Democratic leaders formed the non-partisan Gladwin Community Builders and brought community members together to imagine and strategize for a better place to live. Some Democrats make sure they attend all public meetings and speak up if there are inequities and unresolved needs. Some rural Dem groups work with local farmers to help them with their harvest or selling at the market. The list of ideas is broad and deep and unique to each community. We seem to have a great number of volunteers to work during campaign periods, but we should also direct those energies and resources for the common good in our communities all of the time.
- The climate crisis impacts every Michigander, and needs to be addressed at the local, state, and national level. The Michigan Democratic Party should be on the forefront of pushing for changes in policy, such as switching to renewable energy, reducing industrial emissions, and protecting our Pure Michigan. We can support this through working with our legislators, openly calling for climate action, organizing with local climate activists, and educating the public on why this is a problem and how they can help
TAKE ACTION
- Sign up to attend and vote at the February 2025 Convention (date TBD), help organize, or run for Party office – join the coalition!
- Attend an information session on the 2025 MDP Convention.
- Watch a video of a 2021 MDP Convention information session here.
- Read about the inner workings of the MDP and the DNC: