Democracy Corps is a left-of-center 501(c)(4) research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1999 by Democratic Party pollster Stanley Greenberg and Democratic Party strategist James Carville, who had worked for the presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton. The group provides polling and strategic research to left-wing candidates and organizations.

Overview

Democracy Corps provides polling and advice for left-wing candidates and organizations. Currently, it has ongoing polling projects measuring the strength of both Democrats and Republicans in states being contested by both parties and at the national level.

The organization runs a number of research projects designed to gather data and information to inform left-wing and Democratic Party messaging. In association with the Roosevelt Institute, Democracy Corps runs the “economy project,” which conducts surveys and advocacy to support a left-wing economic policy agenda for Democratic candidates; ¹ a 2016 survey proposed an aggressive left-wing economic platform as “the marching orders for a down-ballot [Democratic] wave.”²

The group’s Republican Party project examines how the left can fracture a divided Republican coalition.³ The Macomb County project, named after the predominately white working class Michigan swing county, examines voters who voted for Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but switched to Republican Donald Trump in 2016 and offers suggestions to Democrats on how to win them back.⁴

Democracy Corps also offers the Carville-Greenberg Memo, a daily email newsletter offering political analysis from a left-wing perspective. The group offers for sale Stanley Greenberg’s newest book, America Ascendant.

Polling Accuracy and Methodology

The group’s main product is its polling services. The polls are conducted with live callers and cellphones are also called. It frequently releases its polling to media organizations and the general public.

There are disagreements over how reliable its polling is. The left-leaning data journalism site FiveThirtyEight.com rates its polls B- with a Democratic bias. ⁵ The National Republican Congressional Committee accused Democracy Corps of contradicting itself and asking misleading questions to get a favorable result when the group conducted a poll showing Democrats winning the majority in the U.S. House in the 2014 midterm elections, a result which did not occur.⁶

Funding

Also see Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (For-Profit)

According to the 2015 Form 990, the group raised $961,447 and spent $940,256. Its largest single expense was $883,387 for research and focus group studies.

Most of that money was spent by Greenberg’s polling company, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. In total, Democracy Corps spent $848,740 on research and focus groups. Broken down further, $245,100 was spent on focus groups and $603,640 was spent on surveys.

The high amount of money spent by Democracy Corps on Greenberg’s own company has attracted the attention of researchers.⁷ Among the clients of Democracy Corps are the Voter Participation Center (formerly Women’s Voice’s Women Vote) and its associated 501(c)(4) advocacy arm, Women’s Voice Women Vote Action Fund.

Democracy Corps has also received grants from other left-wing groups. Among those donating to the group are New Venture Fund ($115,200 in 2011), Media Matters Action Network ($40,000 in 2014), and Patriot Majority USA ($75,000 in 2013).⁸ Democracy Corps does not disclose its donors.

In 2017, Center for Voter Information (CVI) gave $225,377 to Democracy Corps, 46 percent of Democracy Corps’ $489,505 in revenue that year. ⁹¹⁰ In 2018, CVI gave $334,416 to Democracy Corps, 30% of its revenue. ¹¹¹²

1. Greenberg, Stanley. 2017. “The Democrats’ ‘Working-Class Problem’”. The American Prospect. http://prospect.org/article/democrats%E2%80%99-%E2%80%98working-class-problem%E2%80%99.
2. Carville, James, and Stan Greenberg. “Closing on the Economy.” Democracy Corps. October 4, 2016. Accessed September 10, 2018. http://www.democracycorps.com/attachments/article/1046/Dcor_Alert_Closing-on-the-economy_10.4.2016_for-release.pdf.
3. “Republican Party Project.” Democracy Corps. September 6, 2018. Accessed September 10, 2018. http://www.democracycorps.com/Republican-Party-Project/.
4. “Macomb County.” Democracy Corps. May 7, 2018. Accessed September 10, 2018. http://www.democracycorps.com/Macomb-County/.
5. “Pollster Ratings”. 2018. Fivethirtyeight. Accessed September 7. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/pollster-ratings/.
6. “Polling Memo: What You Need To Know About The Latest Democracy Corps – NRCC”. 2013. NRCC. https://www.nrcc.org/2013/06/24/polling-memo-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-latest-democracy-corps/.
7. Ludwig, Hayden. 2017. “Is the Democracy Corps Stanley Greenberg’s Pass-Through… For Himself?”. Capitalresearch.org. https://capitalresearch.org/article/is-the-democracy-corps-stanley-greenbergs-pass-through-for-himself/.
8. Ludwig, Hayden. 2017. “Is the Democracy Corps Stanley Greenberg’s Pass-Through… For Himself?”. Capitalresearch.org. https://capitalresearch.org/article/is-the-democracy-corps-stanley-greenbergs-pass-through-for-himself/.
9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Center for Voter Information. 2017. Part VII, Section B, Line 1C.
10. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Democracy Corps INC. 2017. Part I, Line 12.
11. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Center for Voter Information. 2018. Part VII, Section B, Line 1C.
12. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Democracy Corps INC. 2018. Part I, Line 12.