Topos: Beyond Winning – Change the Culture
When is a “win” not a win?
When it makes future wins harder.
Sometimes progressive policy campaigns can feel like riding a roller coaster. We win a victory at the ballot box only to see it undermined by a state legislature. We successfully sign a major policy into law, and yet a key element was negotiated away, gutting its effectiveness. We win a right, and later the courts rule to take it away.
In addition to all the hard work they do to develop policy solutions, organize communities, and build public support, to avoid the roller coaster advocates also need to attend to the cultural patterns that help or hinder our work.