{"id":50502,"date":"2026-03-31T09:10:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/?post_type=insight&#038;p=50502"},"modified":"2026-05-06T12:20:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T16:20:53","slug":"a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/","title":{"rendered":"A Blueprint for Healthier Political Parties"},"author":16,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","issue_tax":[540],"topic_tax":[200],"program_tax":[156],"project_tax":[4116],"person_tax":[2264,2840,2899],"podcast_show_tax":[],"insight_type":[3795],"fellowship_tax":[],"award":[],"class_list":["post-50502","insight","type-insight","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","insight_type-in-depth"],"acf":{"details":{"hero_type":"large-image","abstract":"To rebuild U.S. political parties, leaders must focus on local organizations, talent, fundraising, and competition.","subheading":"A convening organized by our Political Reform program reveals pathways to rebuild America\u2019s political parties.","read_time":"","watch_time":"","podcast_player":"","apple_podcast_link":"","spotify_podcast_link":"","podcast_link":null,"listen_time":"","youtube_id":"","":null,"featured_image":51257,"add_image_caption":false,"caption":"The birthplace of the Republican Party in Ripon, Wisconsin.","pdf_version":null,"helper_taxonomies":{"issue_tax":[540],"topic_tax":[200],"program_tax":[156],"project_tax":[4116],"person_tax":[2840,2264,2899],"fellowship_tax":false,"event_type":false,"location":false,"insight_type":[3795],"award":false,"podcast_show_tax":false,"person_type":false,"demographic_key":false,"survey_topic":false,"organization":false},"media_inquiry":false,"media_inquiry_title":"","media_inquiry_email":""},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"add_background_color":false,"content":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The crisis in American democracy is inseparable from the failings of our political parties. Parties are essential to organizing citizens\u2019 engagement in democracy, managing debate and compromise, nurturing candidates, and setting out competing national and local agendas. But our major parties have largely failed to fulfill these responsibilities, albeit in different ways.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In October 2025, New America\u2019s Political Reform program brought together 42 political scientists and sociologists, political practitioners, and organizational leaders for a first-of-its-kind convening to consider two questions: What would a healthier system of political parties look like, and how can we build it?<\/span>\r\n<h2>Key Findings<\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>Rebuild party organizations at the state and local level.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Across much of the country, state and local parties no longer function as reliable civic institutions. They appear during election cycles and vanish afterward, leaving little ongoing connection between citizens and the political organizations that claim to represent them.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><b>Reconstruct the talent pipeline, both for party leaders and candidates.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Parties once developed local activists into national leaders. Today, those pathways are unclear or inaccessible. Weak organizations, consultant-driven candidate recruitment, and financial barriers have narrowed opportunities for new candidates and internal leadership.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><b>Break the cycle of short-term incentives.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Modern parties operate in an environment that rewards fundraising and the next election cycle over long-term organizing and institutional development. Predatory small-dollar fundraising tactics weaken trust and reinforce parties\u2019 transactional relationships with voters.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><b>Strengthen parties as core democratic institutions.<\/b> Parties are essential to organizing citizens\u2019 engagement, managing debate, nurturing candidates, and translating electoral victories into policy wins. Election reforms and civic engagement matter, but without parties capable of channeling political energy into governing coalitions, democratic renewal will remain incomplete.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><b>Acknowledgments<\/b><\/h2>\r\nWe would like to thank the participants of the \u201cBlueprint for a Healthier Party System\u201d convening hosted by New America\u2019s Political Reform program in October 2025. The convening and resulting report were made possible by the generous support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.\r\n\r\nThanks also to Maresa Strano and Sarah Jacob of the Political Reform program, as well as our New America events and communications colleagues, for their organizational and editorial support throughout the project.\r\n\r\n<em>Editorial disclosure: The views expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of New America, its staff, fellows, funders, or board of directors.<\/em>","":null,"drop_cap":false,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_authors","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_authors":{"":null,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_taxonomies","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_taxonomies":{"":null,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_related":{"":null,"anchor_id":""}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Blueprint for Healthier Political Parties - New America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To rebuild U.S. political parties, leaders must focus on local organizations, talent, fundraising, and competition.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Blueprint for Healthier Political Parties\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To rebuild U.S. political parties, leaders must focus on local organizations, talent, fundraising, and competition.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"New America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewAmerica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-06T16:20:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1982233970.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NewAmerica\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/\",\"name\":\"A Blueprint for Healthier Political Parties - New America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1982233970.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-31T13:10:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-06T16:20:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"To rebuild U.S. political parties, leaders must focus on local organizations, talent, fundraising, and competition.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1982233970.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1982233970.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":700,\"caption\":\"The birthplace of the Republican Party in Ripon, Wisconsin.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Blueprint for Healthier Political Parties\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/\",\"name\":\"New America - Big Ideas and Bold Solutions\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"New America\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Logo-on-Medium-Teal_1200x675.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Logo-on-Medium-Teal_1200x675.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"New America\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewAmerica\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/NewAmerica\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/new-america\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@NewamericaOrgideas\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/newamericaorg\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Blueprint for Healthier Political Parties - New America","description":"To rebuild U.S. political parties, leaders must focus on local organizations, talent, fundraising, and competition.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Blueprint for Healthier Political Parties","og_description":"To rebuild U.S. political parties, leaders must focus on local organizations, talent, fundraising, and competition.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/","og_site_name":"New America","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewAmerica","article_modified_time":"2026-05-06T16:20:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":700,"url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1982233970.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@NewAmerica","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/","url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/","name":"A Blueprint for Healthier Political Parties - New America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1982233970.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-31T13:10:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-06T16:20:53+00:00","description":"To rebuild U.S. political parties, leaders must focus on local organizations, talent, fundraising, and competition.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1982233970.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1982233970.jpg","width":1400,"height":700,"caption":"The birthplace of the Republican Party in Ripon, Wisconsin."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/a-blueprint-for-healthier-political-parties\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Blueprint for Healthier Political Parties"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/","name":"New America - Big Ideas and Bold Solutions","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#organization","name":"New America","url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Logo-on-Medium-Teal_1200x675.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Logo-on-Medium-Teal_1200x675.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"New America"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewAmerica","https:\/\/x.com\/NewAmerica","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/new-america","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@NewamericaOrgideas","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/newamericaorg\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/50502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/insight"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/50502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54450,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/50502\/revisions\/54450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issue_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_tax?post=50502"},{"taxonomy":"topic_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic_tax?post=50502"},{"taxonomy":"program_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_tax?post=50502"},{"taxonomy":"project_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tax?post=50502"},{"taxonomy":"person_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person_tax?post=50502"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_show_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_show_tax?post=50502"},{"taxonomy":"insight_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight_type?post=50502"},{"taxonomy":"fellowship_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fellowship_tax?post=50502"},{"taxonomy":"award","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/award?post=50502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}