Citizen Works (CW) is a left-of-center organization founded by Ralph Nader. It trains activists   to promote ranked-choice voting, the elimination of the Electoral College, defunding the police, reducing the number of prisons, and replacing oil and atomic energy with weather-dependent sources. ^{1 2}

The organization is a member of the left-of-center Declaration For American Democracy (DADC) a coalition that supports the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and statehood for Washington, D.C. ³

CW files e-postcard tax returns designed for organizations generating less than $50,000 in revenue. ⁴

Background

Citizen Works (CW) is a left-of-center organization founded by Ralph Nader that trains activists and initiates new left-of-center organizations. ⁵

Agenda

Citizen Works supported the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and met with Senator Elizabeth Warren and former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Corday and attorneys for the Federal Trade Commission to emphasize it. ⁶

The group backs ranked-choice voting by linking to Fair Vote, which advocates for Congressional districts to have multiple members and elimination of the Electoral College. ⁷

CW also links to Critical Resistance (CR), a radical-left organization that supports closing of existing prisons and ending construction of new facilities and for reducing Oakland, California’s police budget by 50 percent. ^{8 9}

The organization backs eliminating reliable oil and nuclear energy in favor of weather-dependent sources via its link to the left-wing Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). ^{10 11}

The organization provides a “Progressive Reading List” that includes Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, by Jane Mayer; No is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need by Naomi Klein; and The Informed Activist: A Guide to Progressive Activism on the Internet by Todd Beer. ¹²

People

Citizen Works’ board of directors includes Ralph Nader, his wife Claire Nader, Brian F. Conlon, and Terry Pastika. ¹³

Funding and Status

In 2001 and 2002, funding for Citizen Works was provided by the left-of-center Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, the J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation, Safety Systems Foundation, and the Carol Wilson & G. William Cotts Foundation. ¹⁴

Citizen Works filed an e-postcard return in 2021 indicating less than $50,000 in revenue. It maintains a Twitter account with the most recent Tweet dated October 30, 2014 as of early 2023. ^{15 16 17}

1. “Homepage.” FairVote, February 8, 2023. https://fairvote.org/.
2. Amanda Levin Jacqueline Ennis, Lissa Lynch Amanda Levin Sam Krasnow, Joe Thwaites Jake Schmidt, and David B. Goldstein. “Clean Energy.” NRDC, February 7, 2022. https://www.nrdc.org/issues/clean-energy
3. Admin. “A Coalition of 240+ Member Organizations Working Together to Make the Promise of Democracy Real for All of Us.” Declaration for American Democracy, February 4, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/.
4. ^[1] “About Citizen Works.” Citizen Works. Accessed February 9, 2023. https://www.citizenworks.org/about/.
5. “About Citizen Works.” Citizen Works. Accessed February 9, 2023. https://www.citizenworks.org/about/.
6. “Consumer Protection.” Citizen Works. Accessed February 9, 2023. https://www.citizenworks.org/consumer-protection/.
7. “Financials.” FairVote, December 19, 2022. https://fairvote.org/who-we-are/financials/.
8. “Defund OPD.” Critical Resistance. Accessed February 9, 2023. https://criticalresistance.org/projects/defund-opd/.
9. “Fighting Imprisonment Overview.” Critical Resistance, May 19, 2022. https://criticalresistance.org/fighting-imprisonment-overview/.
10. Amanda Levin Jacqueline Ennis, Lissa Lynch Amanda Levin Sam Krasnow, Joe Thwaites Jake Schmidt, and David B. Goldstein. “Clean Energy.” NRDC, February 7, 2022. https://www.nrdc.org/issues/clean-energy.
11. Mark Izeman Marisa Guerrero Kimberly Ong Sahana Rao Rich Schrader, Shruti Shukla Ade Samuel, Lauren Kubiak Brad Sewell Sarah Chasis, Joe Thwaites Jake Schmidt, Joshua Axelrod Valerie Cleland, and Arely Ortiz – Alum Patricio Portillo. “Dirty Energy.” NRDC, February 7, 2022. https://www.nrdc.org/issues/dirty-energy.
12. “Progressive Reading List 2018 – Citizen Works.” Accessed February 9, 2023. https://www.citizenworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Progressive-Reading-List-2018.pdf.
13. “About Citizen Works.” Citizen Works. Accessed February 9, 2023. https://www.citizenworks.org/about/.
14. Citizen Works. Accessed February 9, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20051227010216/http://www.citizenworks.org/admin/CW_2002_annual_report.pdf.
15. “Tax Exempt Organization Search Details: Internal Revenue Service.” Tax Exempt Organization Search Details | Internal Revenue Service. Accessed February 9, 2023. https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/details/.
16. Twitter. Twitter. Accessed February 9, 2023. https://twitter.com/CitizenWorks.
17. “Tax Exempt Organization Search Details: Internal Revenue Service.” Tax Exempt Organization Search Details | Internal Revenue Service. Accessed February 9, 2023. https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/details/.