The Wisconsin Movement – a political cooperative governed by its members

Now here’s something new and interesting….an organization that wants to be truly grassroots by keeping control and direction of the organization in the hands of the people responsible the successes we’ve had with the recall efforts, instead of ceding control to political insiders.

Here’s a message from the Wisconsin Movement website:

Welcome to the Wisconsin Movement, a Political Cooperative. We are forming a new kind of political organization. The last year has been historic in Wisconsin. The fire ignited by the actions of Scott Walker and his contingent in the legislature has Wisconsin residents of all persuasions united in their efforts to remove them from office. However, if every single recall is successful not one piece of legislation will be reversed. There will be far more work to accomplish.

What makes the Wisconsin Movement unique is that great care is being taken to keep the control and direction of the organization in the hands of the people responsible for our great successes. We believe it is the only way to sustain the momentum of the movement.

We have selected the Cooperative entity structure because it offers the most control to the members of any organization format we can find. The agenda and leadership of the organization will be selected by the members of the organization at the annual meeting. A full 70% of the voting power at the annual meeting is vested in the volunteers members. Further, individuals can gather more voting power purely by volunteering! Yes, the more you do, the more say you’ll have. In fact, we plan to credit time served in organizations that have similar goals and principles. See the beta version of our bylaws here. Please understand this is a draft document that will require more input both from members and the legal team.

It is not our intention to supplant successful local organizations. It is our hope to empower, engage, and promote the local groups and their agendas by providing them tools to be successful whether promoting a local candidate or a statewide recall effort. An organization call the Wisconsin Volunteer Action Network is being formed under the umbrella of the Wisconsin Movement for just that purpose.

As this group is forming we are seeking a broad base of partnership organizations, volunteers, volunteer organizers, and even leadership candidates to help formulate the organization.

The efforts to recall Gov. Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and the four Republican State Senators facing recalls have truly been grassroots efforts, and I applaud the folks at Wisconsin Movement for understanding that and striving to let the same folks who powered the recall efforts have a say in things, instead of ceding control to political insiders.