Changing States:
a Framework for Progressive Governance

Amidst the flurry of this presidential election year, the attention on states is often more focused on short-term swings. This tends to narrow investments in states that may be "tipping"—ready to go in one political direction or another. This can also lead to neglect of the in-depth infrastructure and capacities needed to develop and deploy the kind of power that leads to change that improves people’s lives. PERE's report, Changing States: A Framework for Progressive Governance, offers a three-part framework—conditions, arenas, and capacities—for determining pathways to progressive governance.

Research

Based on two years of quantitative and qualitative analysis, field visits to five different states, and vetting and discussion with experts, this report emphasizes three main shifts in thinking:

  • An attention to wielding—not just winning—power that aims to fundamentally change states so that we can change a nation
  • An approach to states as building blocks for progressive governance—not merely as stepping stones to federal policy change; and
  • An assessment of states that looks beyond swaying an election or swinging a particular state but rather is part of a 50-state strategy that lifts up the dimensions for power building.

The Framework

The Changing States framework maps out three dimensions that shape the pathways to progressive governance:

  1. The Conditions that set the context for social change efforts: demographic, economic, political, and geographic;
  2. The Arenas that define the broad terrain upon which changes are waged, won, implemented, and protected: electoral, legislative, judicial, administrative, communications, and corporate
  3. The Capacities for change that must be in place to build enough power in the six arenas: organizational breadth and depth, networks and alliances, leadership ladders and lattices, and resource base.

Explore Conditions of Change

An understanding of current conditions—as well as past and future trends—is helpful in identifying critical constituencies and the issues that might animate them for progressive change. It is also useful to look at not only where the state is (or has been) but also the direction in which the state is headed. For this, we turn to the Conditions for Change: Demography, Economy, Politics and Geography. Learn the big-picture stories in the U.S. or explore the conditions for your state here

View Conditons of Change

Explore the Arenas of Change

Where does the struggle for progressive change—and ultimately, progressive governance—actually occur? In this section, we describe six decision-making arenas—the target areas for organizing efforts to push, pass, and protect progressive policies and systemic change. These include the electoral, legislative, judicial, administrative, communications, and corporate arenas. Together these define the broad terrain where ideas, policies, and power are contested—and this tool is designed to help facilitate a systematic understanding of where the roadblocks and opportunities lie. Learn more here about why arenas matter and get the data for your state!

Explore Capacities of Change

So, what are the capacities to ensure accessibility to decision makers and decision-making, accountability to grassroots communities (and to the values of economic inclusion and democratic participation), and transparency of governing structures and processes? Are there actors and relationships on the ground ready to shift the tide toward progressive governance across the public and private sector? How can actors build power at the state level to confront the barriers to these transformations?

More simply put, what is needed to make change happen? To get the conversation started, check out the capacities of change here!

See the Framework in Action

The Changing States Framework is a lens through which we can understand where a state is, where it could be, and how to get there. For this early stage in the report's life, we've focused on five states—Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Washington—to holistically apply the framework, as well as a case study for each of the six Arenas of Change.

Nevada

See Case Study

North Carolina

See Case Study

Ohio

See Case Study

Texas

See Case Study

Washington

See Case Study

Arena Case Studies

See Case Studies

Conditions for Change

An understanding of current conditions—as well as past and future trends—is helpful in identifying critical constituencies and the issues that might animate them. It is also useful to look at not only where the state is (or has been) but also the direction in which the state is headed. For this, we turn to the Conditions for Change: Demography, Economy, Politics and Geography.

Are demographics destiny? It's hard to miss the focus on the question of population in U.S. politics. How can data and research on who lives in a state guide our work for a progressive future? We take you through some demographic conditions that have been proven to shape questions of racial and economic equity, and in turn, the pathways for progressive governance.

Explore the Story Map

Explore Demography Data in Your State

Is it just the economy, stupid? From jobs to poverty, wages to working conditions, economic questions often define how we even think of progressive change. Sorting through economic data can seem a completely mystery, but there are key indicators—particularly those that draw attention to inequality—that can signal to us the political challenges and potential pathways for progressive governance.

Explore the Story Map

Explore Economy Data in Your State

Partisan composition and changes in party affiliation over time can have long-term elects on the political infrastructure of a state and may signal which groups are gaining political capital. But just as relevant for progressive governance is the rate at which residents register to vote and the rate at which they turn out to the polls. So here, we present a few brief but effective indicators to help determine the political conditions for change.

Explore the Story Map

Explore Politics Data in Your State

Geographic dynamics also shape structures of power and influence in state governance. Factors at play include: relative autonomy and fiscal capacity of local versus state governments; relative influence of urban, suburban, or rural areas on state politics; and effectiveness and strength of cross-metro collaboration and/or competition.

Story Map Coming Soon!

Arenas of Change

Where does the struggle for progressive change—and ultimately, progressive governance—actually occur? In this section, we describe six decision-making arenas—the target areas for organizing efforts to push, pass, and protect progressive policies and systemic change. These include the electoral, legislative, judicial, administrative, communications, and corporate arenas. Together these define the broad terrain where ideas, policies, and power are contested—and this tool is designed to help facilitate a systematic understanding of where the roadblocks and opportunities lie.

Electoral Arena - Choose State

The electoral arena is where voters are the final decision makers: They shape policy indirectly through electing representatives or directly through ballot initiatives.

Explore Electoral Data in Your State

Legislative Arena - Choose State

The legislative arena is where elected officials and policy makers are the decision makers as they propose, craft , and approve (or disapprove) laws.

Explore Legislative Data in Your State

Administrative Arena - Choose State

The administrative arena is where executive officials and government staff are the decision makers. They oversee and implement laws and rules, coordinate regulatory bodies, and administer public participation processes.

Explore Administrative Data in Your State

Judicial Arena - Choose State

The judicial arena is where decision makers are state-level courts and judges as they determine the legality of policies and practices.                           

Explore Judicial Data in Your State

Communications Arena - Choose State

Communications as an arena of change is about the power to influence the values, worldviews, and understandings of the public at-large.           

Explore Communications Data in Your State

Corporate Arena - Choose State

The corporate arena is where business management and corporate stakeholders make decisions that directly affect workers and families.                                                                                                                                                                                

Explore Corporate Data in Your State

Explore the Arenas of Change Map

Explore the Arenas Story Map. Do voters have a voice? Who are policy makers serving? Are courts delivering justice? Are administrators implementing equitably? who controls the public conversation? Can corporations be held accountable? This interactive map gives you a national view of a story from each arena of change. From there you may drill down to individual states in the data portal.

Capacities for Change

An understanding of the rules, structures, and processes of decision making must be coupled with strategiesfor building power to influence decision making. For example, reforming the rules to expand voting access will not automatically enfranchise low-income, minority, or marginalized communities; these reforms must be accompanied by outreachor other grassroots action to empower and mobilize voters within the new structures. In other words, rules matter, but capacity building to takeadvantage of the rules is essential.

So, what are the capacities to ensure accessibility to decision makers and decision-making, accountability to grassroots communities and the values of economic inclusionand democratic participation, and transparency of governingstructures and processes? Are there actors and relationships on the ground ready to shift the tide toward progressive governance across the public and private sectors—and confront the barriers to these transformations? More simply put, what is needed to make change happen?

Sustainability Of Political Pipeline Infrastructure

Leaders are at the heart of progressive governance and drive alliances and organizations. We must not only define successful leadership development programs, but also ensure that leadership development practices directly inform progressive governance and are constantly producing a new generation of youth who can take the reins. When determining the sustainability of leadership ladders and lattices, factors to consider include

  • Leadership development programs with visioning and experiential learning
  • Integration of leadership development into participatory governance mechanisms
  • Strength of youth-led organizing capacity that concurrently builds long-term leadership pipelines

Depth Of Alliance Building

Alliances are critical for building power to scale up and influence decision makers. But it is not just about alliance building among common interests: It is about bringing in a wide array of players and building relationships based on data and common language. When determining the depth of alliance building, factors to consider include

  • Key instances of sustained dialogue and relationships among diverse interests
  • Intermediary institutions that serve as network hubs
  • Common language and shared data among allies

Robustness Of Organizational Landscape

Progressive governance cannot happen without a robust set of organizations and players inside and outside of government structures. But it is not just about numbers: Groups must have visions and capacities to organize and to "scale up" from the grassroots, as well as data, research capacities, and communications/messaging strategies to design and push sustainable, viable policies. When determining the robustness of the organizational landscape, factors to consider include

  • Existence of groups working toward equity and justice for disenfranchised communities
  • Existence of local and regional organizations with base-building and scaling capacities
  • Institutions with technical capacity to effectively research and message policy solutions

Strength Of Resource Base For Progressive Action

Of course, resources are vital to progressive action. But it is not just about money-philanthropic institutions, local elites, and "everyday" people should be actively engaged in more democratic funding processes. This expands the ranks of those with a stake in progressive governance, but also ensures that movements can sustain their work. Factors to consider in determining the strength of a resource base include

  • Philanthropic institutions integrated with active social movements
  • Local elites supportive of progressive governance
  • Diverse "everyday people" mobilized through grassroots fundraising
  • Alternative business models to sustain action

Pathways to Progressive Governance

The Changing States framework is about understanding the long-term building blocks and the pathways toward progressive governance in any state—and under any "state of change." Below is an example of how one might start thinking about those building blocks and pathways:

Explore Further

We strive for transparency and accessibility. This site is full of research—both original and secondary—and we intend it to be as easy a jumping off point for your own studies as possible. Here you may download the report, download our data, and explore the sources that went into this report as well as what made changingstates.org possible.

Download Report

This site is merely a companion to the Changing States full report. To fully understand and utilize this site, you must read the whole work. Download the report and get reading! Download Report

Download Data

We aim to make this site as useful as possible and that means making our data as open and accessible as possible. All data included on this site is available for download in multiple formats. If you would like to see a new format added, please use the contact portal to make a suggestion! Download Data

Data Sources

The Changing States project was created in large part using publicly available data sources, and indicators compiled by other researchers and foundations. View Data Sources

Research and Site Credits

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