Third Way (think tank)
Encyclopedia
Third Way is a public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
. The organization focuses on policies for private-sector economic growth, national security strategy, a clean energy, education and anti-poverty reform, and divisive culture issues. Third Way describes itself as moderate and progressive. In the media, the organization has been described as a "...centrist Democratic think tank...". In a November 2010 profile of the organization, Politico's James Hohmann described Third Way as the "wheelhouse" of independent
Independent (voter)
An independent voter, those who register as an unaffiliated voter in the United States, is a voter of a democratic country who does not align him- or herself with a political party...
and swing voters
Swing vote
Swing vote is a term used to describe a vote that may go to any of a number of candidates in an election, or, in a two-party system, may go to either of the two dominant political parties...
.
History
Third Way was founded in 2005 by Jonathan CowanJonathan Cowan
Jonathan Cowan is the President and a co-founder of Third Way, a think tank. He has over 15 years of experience at senior levels of politics and government, helping to found and run three advocacy and policy organizations, and helping run a major federal agency....
, Matt Bennett, Jim Kessler and Nancy Hale in the wake of the 2004 election as a policy, messaging and strategy "idea center" and think tank. The organization was dedicated to understanding the wants, needs and expectations of self-described moderate Americans, who comprise 44% of the voting public; a large component of the electorate for 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...
.
Areas of Interest
Third Way works to develop and advance ProgressiveProgressive
Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:-Politics:* Progressivism, a political ideology* Progressive Era, a period of reform in the United States Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:-Politics:* Progressivism, a political ideology* Progressive Era, a...
policy ideas. Third Way's President and Economic Program director made the case that progressives needed to reorient themselves and set forth a modern agenda focused on growth and middle class success for the 21st century in an influential opinion piece published in Politico in 2010.
Third Way has four major policy programs: the Economics Program focuses on helping the middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
in America in the midst of growing global
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
competition. The National Security Program
Third Way is a public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
. The organization focuses on policies for private-sector economic growth, national security strategy, a clean energy, education and anti-poverty reform, and divisive culture issues. Third Way describes itself as moderate and progressive. In the media, the organization has been described as a "...centrist Democratic think tank...".Smith, Donna (2011-04-21). "Republicans seek to reassure elderly on Medicare" (Reuters.com). Retrieved 2011-04-25.Dixon, Kim (2011-02-23). "Obama business advisers to meet, tax high on agenda" (Reuters.com). Retrieved 2011-04-25. In a November 2010 profile of the organization, Politico's James Hohmann described Third Way as the "wheelhouse"www.politico.com of independent
Independent (voter)
An independent voter, those who register as an unaffiliated voter in the United States, is a voter of a democratic country who does not align him- or herself with a political party...
and swing voters
Swing vote
Swing vote is a term used to describe a vote that may go to any of a number of candidates in an election, or, in a two-party system, may go to either of the two dominant political parties...
.
History
Third Way was founded in 2005 by Jonathan CowanJonathan Cowan
Jonathan Cowan is the President and a co-founder of Third Way, a think tank. He has over 15 years of experience at senior levels of politics and government, helping to found and run three advocacy and policy organizations, and helping run a major federal agency....
, Matt Bennett,http://www.thirdway.org/staff/3 Jim Kesslerhttp://www.thirdway.org/staff/5 and Nancy Halehttp://www.thirdway.org/experts/4 in the wake of the 2004 election as a policy, messaging and strategy "idea center" and think tank. The organization was dedicated to understanding the wants, needs and expectations of self-described moderate Americans, who comprise 44% of the voting public; a largehttp://www.thirdway.org/subjects/13/publications/356 component of the electorate for 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...
.
Areas of Interest
Third Way works to develop and advance ProgressiveProgressive
Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:-Politics:* Progressivism, a political ideology* Progressive Era, a period of reform in the United States Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:-Politics:* Progressivism, a political ideology* Progressive Era, a...
policy ideas. Third Way's President and Economic Program director made the case that progressives needed to reorient themselves and set forth a modern agenda focused on growth and middle class success for the 21st century in an influential opinion piece published in Politico in 2010.
Third Way has four major policy programs: the Economics Programhttp://www.thirdway.org/programs/economic_program focuses on helping the middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
in America in the midst of growing global
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
competition. The National Security Program
Third Way is a public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
. The organization focuses on policies for private-sector economic growth, national security strategy, a clean energy, education and anti-poverty reform, and divisive culture issues. Third Way describes itself as moderate and progressive. In the media, the organization has been described as a "...centrist Democratic think tank...".Smith, Donna (2011-04-21). "Republicans seek to reassure elderly on Medicare" (Reuters.com). Retrieved 2011-04-25.Dixon, Kim (2011-02-23). "Obama business advisers to meet, tax high on agenda" (Reuters.com). Retrieved 2011-04-25. In a November 2010 profile of the organization, Politico's James Hohmann described Third Way as the "wheelhouse"www.politico.com of independent
Independent (voter)
An independent voter, those who register as an unaffiliated voter in the United States, is a voter of a democratic country who does not align him- or herself with a political party...
and swing voters
Swing vote
Swing vote is a term used to describe a vote that may go to any of a number of candidates in an election, or, in a two-party system, may go to either of the two dominant political parties...
.
History
Third Way was founded in 2005 by Jonathan CowanJonathan Cowan
Jonathan Cowan is the President and a co-founder of Third Way, a think tank. He has over 15 years of experience at senior levels of politics and government, helping to found and run three advocacy and policy organizations, and helping run a major federal agency....
, Matt Bennett,http://www.thirdway.org/staff/3 Jim Kesslerhttp://www.thirdway.org/staff/5 and Nancy Halehttp://www.thirdway.org/experts/4 in the wake of the 2004 election as a policy, messaging and strategy "idea center" and think tank. The organization was dedicated to understanding the wants, needs and expectations of self-described moderate Americans, who comprise 44% of the voting public; a largehttp://www.thirdway.org/subjects/13/publications/356 component of the electorate for 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...
.
Areas of Interest
Third Way works to develop and advance ProgressiveProgressive
Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:-Politics:* Progressivism, a political ideology* Progressive Era, a period of reform in the United States Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:-Politics:* Progressivism, a political ideology* Progressive Era, a...
policy ideas. Third Way's President and Economic Program director made the case that progressives needed to reorient themselves and set forth a modern agenda focused on growth and middle class success for the 21st century in an influential opinion piece published in Politico in 2010.
Third Way has four major policy programs: the Economics Programhttp://www.thirdway.org/programs/economic_program focuses on helping the middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
in America in the midst of growing global
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
competition. The National Security Programhttp://www.thirdway.org/programs/national_security_program aims at issues of security and the US military. Third Way has also undertaken a program on http://www.thirdway.org/programs/clean_energy_program clean energy intended to influence policy decisions on reducing carbon emissions. In the fall of 2010, it unveiled a new Domestic Policy Program to examine issues including poverty, education and the politics of the center. The Domestic Policy Program also includes Third Way’s Initiative Culture Initiative,http://www.thirdway.org/programs/culture_program%20Culture%20 which examines how progressives handle contentious culture issues.
Notable People Affiliated with Third Way
CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
senior political analyst Bill Schneider
Bill Schneider (journalist)
William Schneider is an American journalist. Currently he serves as CNN's senior political analyst and Distinguished Senior Fellow & Resident Scholar at Third Way, a Washington think tank. Schneider is also serving as the Omer L...
is a Resident Scholar and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Third Way. A few of the staff members for the organization now work in the Obama administration
Presidency of Barack Obama
The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009 when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election...
and several former Third Way Honorary Co-Chairs serve in President Obama's cabinet including Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius is an American politician currently serving as the 21st Secretary of Health and Human Services. She was the second female Governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009, the Democratic respondent to the 2008 State of the Union address, and chair-emerita of the Democratic Governors...
and Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar
Kenneth Lee "Ken" Salazar is the current United States Secretary of the Interior, in the administration of President Barack Obama. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He and Mel Martinez were the first Hispanic U.S...
.http://www.thirdway.org/co_chairs
Third Way has attracted several leading lawmakers to the organization. In February 2011, Third Way announced http://www.thirdway.org/press_releases/140 that Assistant House Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-SC), and Congressmen John Dingell (D-MI), Allyson Schwartz
Allyson Schwartz
Allyson Young Schwartz is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes parts of Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia...
(D-PA), and Jared Polis
Jared Polis
Jared Schutz Polis is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
(D-CO) would be joining as Honorary Co-Chairs.
Examples of Policy Work
A Third Way sponsored a report written by William GalstonWilliam Galston
William Galston is a political theorist. He is the Saul I Stern Professor of Civic Engagement and the director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the School of Public Policy of University of Maryland, College Park. In addition, he is a Senior Fellow of Governance at the Brookings...
of the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
and Elaine Kamarckhttp://www.politico.com/arena/bio/elaine_c_kamarck.html of Harvard University's Kennedy School entitled Change You Can Believe In Needs a Government You Can Trusthttp://www.thirdway.org/publications/133 The report analyzed Americans' trust in government and discovered it was in serious decline and could present significant challenges to the Obama administration's agenda. It was among the first pieces of research signaling the rise of the Tea Party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
that erupted in 2009.
Third Way's work on the health reform debate
Health care reform in the United States
Health care reform in the United States has a long history, of which the most recent results were two federal statutes enacted in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , signed March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 , which amended the PPACA and...
was instrumental to the bill's eventual passage. The often repeated message that health care reform would deliver "stability and security" to the middle class traces its roots to a series of Third Way reports and memos issued in the spring and summer of 2009. Third Way's work was described as having "really become central to the White House's message". A Third Way op-ed published in Roll Call
Roll Call
Roll Call is a newspaper published in Washington, D.C., United States, from Monday to Thursday when the United States Congress is in session and on Mondays only during recess. Roll Call reports news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of...
in late summer 2009 urged progressives, upset by early reports on the contours of the bill, "Don’t Pass on the ‘Next New Deal’".
Since 2009, nearly 40 bills have been introduced in the U.S. Congress based on Third Way policy ideas, including Spurring Weatherization Investments in Rural America, which was introduced by Representative Jim Clyburn
Jim Clyburn
James Enos "Jim" Clyburn is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993, and the Assistant Democratic Leader since 2011. He was previously House Majority Whip, serving in that post from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
(D-Majority Whip) and Senator Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin Graham is the senior U.S. Senator from South Carolina and a member of the Republican Party. Previously he served as the U.S. Representative for .-Early life, education and career:...
(R-South Carolina) as the Rural Energy Savings Program; the move was lauded in liberal circles.
Third Way works with Senate Democratic leadership, including Senator Dick Durbin, to help define policy ideas and strategy. In the wake of the loss of control of the House
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
after the 2010 elections
United States elections, 2010
The 2010 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. During this midterm election year, all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 37 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate were contested in this election along with 38 state and territorial...
President Obama appointed former Third Way Trustee William Daley to replace Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff. This decision was intended to signal to the nation the administration's prioritization of economic growth and a willingness to work with both parties.http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/daley-to-become-next-white-house-chief-of-staff/?ref=politics
Washington Post columnist David S. Broder
David S. Broder
David Salzer Broder was an American journalist, writing for The Washington Post for over forty years. He also was an author, television news show pundit, and university lecturer....
and National Journal
National Journal
National Journal is a nonpartisan American weekly magazine that reports on the current political environment and emerging political and policy trends. National Journal was first published in 1969. Times Mirror owned the magazine from 1986 to 1997, when it was purchased by David G. Bradley...
political analyst Charlie Cook
Charlie Cook
Charlie Cook , originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, is an American political analyst who specializes in election forecasts and political trends. He attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He delivers election forecasts and rankings in his own publication, The Cook Political Report,...
devoted columns to Third Way's June 2010 poll on the economy, conducted with the Benenson Strategy Group, suggesting that support from the middle-class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
for the Progressive agenda might have begun to waver.
The shooting
2011 Tucson shooting
On January 8, 2011, a mass shooting occurred near Tucson, Arizona. Nineteen people were shot, six of them fatally, with one other person injured at the scene during an open meeting that U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was holding with members of her constituency in a Casas Adobes Safeway...
of Third Way’s Honorary Co-Chair, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Dee "Gabby" Giffords is an American politician. A Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, she has represented since 2007. She is the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress...
, in January 2011 sparked a national conversation about the risks of heated political discourse. Third Way attempted to reconcile the two parties in Washington during the 2011 State of the Union
2011 State of the Union Address
The 2011 State of the Union Address was a speech given by President Barack Obama at 9 p.m. EST on January 25, 2011, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives...
. Breaking away from the 98-year tradition of partisan seating, Third Way pushed for members of opposing parties to sit together at the President’s annual address .
See also
- Argument to moderation
- CentrismCentrismIn politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
- Centrist Party (United States)
- CorporatismCorporatismCorporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...
- Corporate statismCorporate StatismCorporate statism or state corporatism is a political culture and a form of corporatism whose adherents hold that the corporate group is the basis of society and the state. The corporate group is typically comprised by political-economic power elites, for example those represented by the U.S....
- Democratic Leadership CouncilDemocratic Leadership CouncilThe Democratic Leadership Council was a non-profit 501 corporation that, upon its formation, argued the United States Democratic Party should shift away from the leftward turn it took in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s...
- DistributismDistributismDistributism is a third-way economic philosophy formulated by such Catholic thinkers as G. K...
- NeoliberalismNeoliberalismNeoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
- New Labour
- Radical middleRadical middleThe terms radical center , radical middle or radical centrism describe a philosophy as well as an associated political movement and position on the political spectrum...
- Social corporatismSocial corporatismSocial corporatism is a form of economic tripartite corporatism supported by social democratic political parties based upon "social partnership" between capital and labour interest groups as well as between the market economy and state regulation that is considered a compromise to regulate conflict...
- Social DemocracySocial democracySocial democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
- Social LiberalismSocial liberalismSocial liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding...
- Social market economySocial market economyThe social market economy is the main economic model used in West Germany after World War II. It is based on the economic philosophy of Ordoliberalism from the Freiburg School...
- Third PositionThird PositionThird Position is a revolutionary nationalist political ideology that emphasizes its opposition to both communism and capitalism. Advocates of Third Position politics typically present themselves as "beyond left and right", instead claiming to syncretize radical ideas from both ends of the...
- Third Way (centrism)Third way (centrism)The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...
- TriangulationTriangulation (politics)Triangulation is the name given to the act of a political candidate presenting his or her ideology as being "above" and "between" the "left" and "right" sides of a traditional democratic "political spectrum". It involves adopting for oneself some of the ideas of one's political opponent...
External links
- official site
- PoliticoPolitico (newspaper)The Politico is an American political journalism organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage of Washington, D.C., includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the Presidency...
profile of Third Way on Election Day 2010 - Politico: "Key to U.S. growth is building wealth, not entitlements"