Drinking Liberally
Encyclopedia
Drinking Liberally is a political and social organization where self-identified liberals and progressives gather in bars to socialize and talk politics - it is the most well-known program of the Living Liberally
network. Founded in May 2003 by Justin Krebs and Matt O'Neill at Rudy's Bar and Grill in the Hell's Kitchen
neighborhood of New York City
, it has, as of March 2008, 240 chapters in forty-five states, plus Washington DC, Vancouver, Calgary, Buenos Aires Argentina and Melbourne Australia. The group has drawn attention from the national and international press. Katrina Baker is National Organizer for Drinking Liberally. The name Drinking Liberally was conceived by Owen Roth.
The first chapter outside of New York was formed when a member of the original group moved to San Francisco; the later growth of Drinking Liberally is partly due to the influence of left-leaning political blogs, which spread the word and encouraged people outside of the New York City area to start their own chapters.
Chapters of Drinking Liberally meet at a regular bar or pub, and at a regular time each week or month, to enable members to discuss liberal and progressive politics in a friendly environment. Drinking Liberally has also served as a place for progressive networking
and as a place for local and state-level politicians to recruit volunteers and generate support for their campaigns. Membership in the Democratic Party
is not a requirement, and many attendees do not describe themselves as Democrats. There is no ideological requirement for attendance; however, in keeping with the group's name, nearly all who do attend identify with the "liberal" label.
In the early stages of Drinking Liberally's growth, attendees were predominantly young (between twenty and thirty years old); as the organization has expanded and received greater media coverage, a much wider range of ages can be found at any particular meeting, and some chapters have been founded by people well over the age of thirty.
Top-down management of Drinking Liberally is light; the only requirements for chapters are:
Living Liberally
Living Liberally is the general name for a multifaceted, grassroots progressive community-building movement started in New York City in 2003. The inception of Drinking Liberally and its parent organization, until 2008 known as Cosmopolity, united a growing progressive social network under one name...
network. Founded in May 2003 by Justin Krebs and Matt O'Neill at Rudy's Bar and Grill in the Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River....
neighborhood of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, it has, as of March 2008, 240 chapters in forty-five states, plus Washington DC, Vancouver, Calgary, Buenos Aires Argentina and Melbourne Australia. The group has drawn attention from the national and international press. Katrina Baker is National Organizer for Drinking Liberally. The name Drinking Liberally was conceived by Owen Roth.
The first chapter outside of New York was formed when a member of the original group moved to San Francisco; the later growth of Drinking Liberally is partly due to the influence of left-leaning political blogs, which spread the word and encouraged people outside of the New York City area to start their own chapters.
Chapters of Drinking Liberally meet at a regular bar or pub, and at a regular time each week or month, to enable members to discuss liberal and progressive politics in a friendly environment. Drinking Liberally has also served as a place for progressive networking
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
and as a place for local and state-level politicians to recruit volunteers and generate support for their campaigns. Membership in the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
is not a requirement, and many attendees do not describe themselves as Democrats. There is no ideological requirement for attendance; however, in keeping with the group's name, nearly all who do attend identify with the "liberal" label.
In the early stages of Drinking Liberally's growth, attendees were predominantly young (between twenty and thirty years old); as the organization has expanded and received greater media coverage, a much wider range of ages can be found at any particular meeting, and some chapters have been founded by people well over the age of thirty.
Top-down management of Drinking Liberally is light; the only requirements for chapters are:
- That they meet at a regular meeting time and place.
- That they do not charge for admission.
- That they remain independent of other organizations (according to the website, "Drinking Liberally can't be "presented by" any other group.")
- That the organizer of each chapter check in with the national team each month.
- That no chapter endorsePolitical endorsementPolitical endorsement is the action of publicly declaring one's personal or group's support of a candidate for elected office.In the case of a 4 or 5 party system, where one of the parties has a 15 to 20% predicted electoral support, just prior to the election, the official representative of the...
specific candidates or issue campaigns.