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Writers for Democratic Action

Website:

www.writersfordemocraticaction.org
Type:

Non-Profit

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Writers for Democratic Action is a group of writers that advocate for various left-of-center positions, including greater abortion access. It was founded in 2020 as “Writers Against Trump,” a group of writers that opposed then-President Donald Trump. 1

Background

Writers for Democratic Action was founded in 2020 as “Writers Against Trump.” The group claims to have 3,000 members and 60 partner organizations, including “writers from Maryland, Virginia, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, and Washington DC.” It also claims, “international members hail from Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Nigeria, Israel, France, Germany, Austria, Czechia, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Japan, India, Philippines, Turkey, Australia, and New Zealand.” 2

It also has partner organizations that represent “ten U.S. states, and eight countries outside of the US.” 3

After what the organization called the “2020 victory” the group rebranded as “Writers for Democratic Action.” In this capacity the organization clams to help bring together the literary community to contribute to swing-state elections. 4

The organization features articles by writers advocating various left-of-center positions. For example, the organization’s website featured a New Yorker article supporting abortion and criticizing the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and said that the Supreme Court Justices who were Roman Catholic and voted to overturn Roe v. Wade were “undermining not only basic elements of American democracy, such as the ‘wall of separation,’ but also the essential spirit of Catholicism.” 5  A separate featured article said that limiting abortion is a “hallmark of authoritarian and fascist governments” and claimed that the Supreme Court is “vehemently anti-democratic” and that opposing abortion is driven by misogyny. 6

Affiliated Organizations

Writers for Democratic Action is a member of the Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of left-of-center activist groups that advocates for a series of governmental and electoral-administration policy changes. The coalition’s priority is to support legislation that would enact several left-of-center policy priorities surrounding elections including enacting automatic voter registration and placing restrictive regulations on political campaign-related speech acts. The organization is a project of Public Citizen Foundation, a left of center advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader. 7

Declaration for American Democracy advocates for bills in Congress and publicly promotes the need for left-leaning campaign and electoral administration policies. In May 2020, the organization sent an open letter to all 2020 Presidential candidates urging them to adopt the coalition’s positions as part of their campaign platform and as policy priorities if elected. The coalition also launched a presidential candidate tracker to assess where each candidate stood on over 90 policy issues. 8 Left-wing Democratic primary candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was listed as in support of the most of the policy positions on the Declaration for American Democracy’s platform. 9

References

  1. “Writers for Democratic Action.” Accessed March 4, 2023. https://www.writersfordemocraticaction.org
  2. “Writers for Democratic Action Impact Statement.” Accessed March 4, 2023. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/629e980512a83c28dfa535c6/t/62a93faf7edbf8350bc5ee38/1655259055595/Impact+Statement+Draft+for+Press+Kit+5+2022.pdf
  3. “Writers for Democratic Action Impact Statement.” Accessed March 4, 2023. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/629e980512a83c28dfa535c6/t/62a93faf7edbf8350bc5ee38/1655259055595/Impact+Statement+Draft+for+Press+Kit+5+2022.pdf
  4. “Writers for Democratic Action Impact Statement.” Accessed March 4, 2023. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/629e980512a83c28dfa535c6/t/62a93faf7edbf8350bc5ee38/1655259055595/Impact+Statement+Draft+for+Press+Kit+5+2022.pdf
  5. “The Sins of the High Court’s Supreme Catholics.” James Carroll. August 19, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-sins-of-the-high-courts-supreme-catholics.
  6. “Racism, Patriarchy, and Power: Siri Hustvedt on the Toxic Thinking Behind the Supreme Court’s Destruction of Abortion Rights.” Siri Hustvedt. June 27, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://lithub.com/racism-patriarchy-and-power-siri-hustvedt-on-the-toxic-thinking-behind-the-supreme-courts-destruction-of-abortion-rights/?utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily%3A%20June%2027%2C%202022&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_term=lithub_master_list.
  7. “About.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://declarationforamericandemocracy.org/about/
  8. “The Positions.” Democracy Platform 2020. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20200926055422/https://democracyplatform2020.org/the-positions/
  9. “The Positions.” Democracy Platform 2020. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20200926055422/https://democracyplatform2020.org/the-positions/
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