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Americans for Democratic Action
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is an American political organization advocating liberal policies. The group was established by prominent Democratic Party leaders in 1947 in order to combat what those leaders perceived to be an acceptance of, or even an alliance with, American communists. The ADA's leaders considered communism (especially as practiced in the Soviet Union) to be both morally wrong and a threat to the United States.
Those that were part of this group did not approve of dogma because they believed that America should be ideology free. The reason for the rejection of ideology was because they didn't believe that there was any type of theory that would solve and be the end of all society's problems.
The ADA has played a significant role in many major national movements - civil rights, women's rights, opposition to Vietnam and Iraq wars - while supporting landmark legislation that resulted from these movements. ADA continues working for social and economic justice through lobbying, organizing, research, and the support of progressive candidates.
The ADA is well-known for its rankings of legislators. The ADA tracks how members of Congress vote on what it considers key issues and gives each member a rating from 0, meaning complete disagreement with ADA policies (considered conservative), to 100, meaning complete agreement with ADA policies (considered liberal).
Founding members include:
- Clifton Brock, Americans for Democratic Action (Public Affairs Press, 1962)