Framing the Future: How Progressive Values Can Win Elections and Influence People (BK Currents) [Hardcover]

Bernie Horn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2008

Polls consistently show that most Americans are progressives at heart. By margins of at least two to one, we favor affordable healthcare for all, even if it means raising taxes; want federal action to combat global warming; support stricter gun control; don't want Roe vs. Wade overturned; and the list goes on. So why is it so hard for progressive candidates to win elections?

In "Framing the Future," author Bernie Horn explains how persuadable voters think about issues and make political decisions and why, as a result, the usual progressive approaches are practically designed to fail with them. He offers a crash course in the nuts and bolts of framing and shows how to use three bedrock American values--freedom, opportunity, and security--to frame progressive positions in a way that creates a consistent, unified political vision that will appeal to persuadable voters.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Politics," says Bernie Horn, "is too important to be left to the professionals in Washington." It's hard not to love a book that so directly appeals to progressive dedication to participatory democracy--and provides a sterling set of guidelines on how to make our ideals prevail. -- Daily Kos Book Review, January 13, 2008

From the Inside Flap

Polls consistently show that most Americans are progressives at heart. By margins of at least two to one, we favor affordable healthcare for all, even if it means raising taxes; want federal action to combat global warming; support stricter gun control; don't want Roe vs. Wade overturned; and the list goes on. So why is it so hard for progressive candidates to win elections?

Because, says Bernie Horn, most progressives don't know how to explain their ideas in ways that resonate with "persuadables"--the significant slice of the electorate who don't instantly identify as Democrats or Republicans. These are the voters who swing elections. There's been a lot of theoretical discussion about framing lately, but Framing the Future isn't theory--the concepts outlined have been used successfully by progressive candidates across the nation, even in such conservative bastions as Montana, Arizona, and Florida.

Drawing on rigorous polling data and his own experience as a veteran political consultant, Horn explains how persuadable voters think about issues and make political decisions and why, as a result, the usual progressive approaches are practically designed to fail with them. He offers a crash course in the nuts and bolts of framing and shows how to use three bedrock American values--freedom, opportunity, and security--to frame progressive positions in a way that creates a consistent, unified political vision that will appeal to persuadable voters. He even offers advice on specific words and phrases to use when talking about a variety of issues and ideas.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 175 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576754596
• ISBN-13: 978-1576754597
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,212,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, January 7, 2008

By 

Vincent DeMarco - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Framing the Future: How Progressive Values Can Win Elections and Influence People (BK Currents) (Hardcover)

Framing the Future is a must read for anyone advocating progressive issues from health care to world peace, Bernie Horn does a great job of showing us how to frame progressive issues in way that people can understand and support.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply stated, "Framing The Future" should be considered mandatory reading, June 20, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Framing the Future: How Progressive Values Can Win Elections and Influence People (BK Currents) (Hardcover)

A central theme in Framing The Future: How Progressive Values Can Win Elections And Influence People" by Bernie Horn (a senior director for policy and communications at the Center for Policy Alternatives in Washington, D.C.) is that for the last seven years, the federal government has been disastrously dominated by a small cadre of neo-conservative ideologues in both foreign affairs and domestic issues. The only antidote to the damage done to America's prestige abroad and our economic foundations at home in an American style democracy is the election of a majority of responsible progressives to the halls of congress and the White House. "Framing The Future" is based upon sound research, polling, and testing methodology to create simple step-by-step instructions on how political and social progressives can best and most effectively articulate their positions on the issues of the day (especially during electoral contests) and employ successful strategies to gain back the levers of government to advance their own solutions to the political, social, cultural, and economic problems that currently beset our nation. Simply stated, "Framing The Future" should be considered mandatory reading for every political activist, candidate for political office, and social issue advocacy group in the country.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How Progressives Can Win, January 19, 2008

By 

Joel (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Framing the Future: How Progressive Values Can Win Elections and Influence People (BK Currents) (Hardcover)

Bernie Horn's "Framing The Future" will interest both political activists and students of American politics. Horn makes the case why, and how, progressives need to change their tactics - less preaching to the choir, more persuasion of the swing voters who actually decide elections.