{"id":53527,"date":"2026-05-07T08:55:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/?post_type=insight&#038;p=53527"},"modified":"2026-05-07T09:03:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:03:58","slug":"associational-parties","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/","title":{"rendered":"A Model for Associational Party Building"},"author":16,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","issue_tax":[540],"topic_tax":[84,140,200],"program_tax":[156],"project_tax":[4116],"person_tax":[4122],"podcast_show_tax":[],"insight_type":[3795,3796],"fellowship_tax":[],"award":[],"class_list":["post-53527","insight","type-insight","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","insight_type-in-depth","insight_type-report"],"acf":{"details":{"hero_type":"large-image","abstract":"Political parties can rebuild community ties, foster participation, and translate electoral leverage into policy wins.","subheading":"The Working Families Party shows political parties can rebuild community ties, foster participation, and translate electoral leverage into policy wins.","read_time":"","watch_time":"","podcast_player":"","apple_podcast_link":"","spotify_podcast_link":"","podcast_link":null,"listen_time":"","youtube_id":"","":null,"featured_image":53759,"add_image_caption":false,"caption":"","pdf_version":null,"helper_taxonomies":{"issue_tax":[540],"topic_tax":[84,200,140],"program_tax":[156],"project_tax":[4116],"person_tax":[4122],"fellowship_tax":false,"event_type":false,"location":false,"insight_type":[3795,3796],"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;\">U.S. political parties have become hollow, campaign-driven organizations, failing at core functions like representation, candidate development, and governance. This report advances \u201cassociational party-building\u201d as an alternative. It presents New York\u2019s Working Families Party (WFP) as a blueprint for how parties, major or minor, might rebuild organizational capacity and reestablish the critical link between citizens and government. Rooted in civic organizations and sustained through year-round engagement, the WFP demonstrates how parties can rebuild community ties, foster participation, and translate electoral leverage into policy wins. Fusion voting is central to this model\u2019s success for a minor party. The case presents a blueprint for how parties, major or minor, might rebuild organizational capacity and reestablish the critical link between citizens and government.<\/span>","":null,"drop_cap":false,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_heading","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_heading":{"text":"Key Findings","level":"h2","":null,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"add_background_color":false,"content":"<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>Associational party-building is feasible under contemporary conditions, including for the two major parties.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In an era dominated by candidate-centered campaigns and mass digital media, the WFP built a party anchored in organized constituencies and year-round membership participation rather than donors or candidates. It created a party <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">association<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><b>Organizational design enables the development of an associational party.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Drawing in civic associations and adopting a dues-paying structure enabled the WFP to scale and mediate internal conflicts. A party network tied together by a ballot line and shared project emerged, defying both formalistic and \u2018party blob\u2019 conceptions of parties.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><b>Institutionalized member participation creates a two-way street of communication that enhances responsiveness.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> By emphasizing face-to-face engagement and member-involved governance practices, the WFP was able to formulate policies and priorities that resonated with its constituents. It then used its people-driven infrastructure and pragmatic politics to deliver on those policies.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><b>Stable access to a fusion ballot line is indispensable to building an effective new minor party organization.<\/b> Fusion voting enabled the WFP to scale statewide, measure its support independently, and bargain with candidates without acting as a spoiler, while sustaining a broad and diverse coalition.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","":null,"drop_cap":false,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_heading","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_heading":{"text":"Acknowledgments","level":"h2","":null,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"add_background_color":false,"content":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The author is grateful for the feedback and contributions of Jessa Feiler, Didi Kuo, Oscar Pocasangre, Elena Souris, and Maresa Strano. A special thanks to Dan Cantor for introducing the Working Families Party\u2019s work, its leaders, and staff, and to the many interviewees who have shared their stories and made this report possible.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<em>Editorial disclosure: The views expressed in this report are solely those of the author 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 Model for Associational Party Building - New America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New York\u2019s Working Families Party demonstrates how political parties can rebuild community ties, foster participation, and translate electoral leverage into policy wins.\" \/>\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\/associational-parties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Model for Associational Party Building\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York\u2019s Working Families Party demonstrates how political parties can rebuild community ties, foster participation, and translate electoral leverage into policy wins.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-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=\"2026-05-07T13:03:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WFP-cover-1.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\/associational-parties\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/\",\"name\":\"A Model for Associational Party Building - New America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WFP-cover-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-07T12:55:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-07T13:03:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"New York\u2019s Working Families Party demonstrates how political parties can rebuild community ties, foster participation, and translate electoral leverage into policy wins.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WFP-cover-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WFP-cover-1.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":700,\"caption\":\"NYC Comptroller candidate Brad Lander and NYC Mayoral candidate Maya Wiley.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Model for Associational Party Building\"}]},{\"@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 Model for Associational Party Building - New America","description":"New York\u2019s Working Families Party demonstrates how political parties can rebuild community ties, foster participation, and translate electoral leverage into policy wins.","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\/associational-parties\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Model for Associational Party Building","og_description":"New York\u2019s Working Families Party demonstrates how political parties can rebuild community ties, foster participation, and translate electoral leverage into policy wins.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/","og_site_name":"New America","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewAmerica","article_modified_time":"2026-05-07T13:03:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":700,"url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WFP-cover-1.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\/associational-parties\/","url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/","name":"A Model for Associational Party Building - New America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WFP-cover-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-07T12:55:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-07T13:03:58+00:00","description":"New York\u2019s Working Families Party demonstrates how political parties can rebuild community ties, foster participation, and translate electoral leverage into policy wins.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WFP-cover-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WFP-cover-1.jpg","width":1400,"height":700,"caption":"NYC Comptroller candidate Brad Lander and NYC Mayoral candidate Maya Wiley."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/associational-parties\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Model for Associational Party Building"}]},{"@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\/53527","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":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/53527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54527,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/53527\/revisions\/54527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issue_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_tax?post=53527"},{"taxonomy":"topic_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic_tax?post=53527"},{"taxonomy":"program_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_tax?post=53527"},{"taxonomy":"project_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tax?post=53527"},{"taxonomy":"person_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person_tax?post=53527"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_show_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_show_tax?post=53527"},{"taxonomy":"insight_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight_type?post=53527"},{"taxonomy":"fellowship_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fellowship_tax?post=53527"},{"taxonomy":"award","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/award?post=53527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}