There is an Imbalance in the Marketplace of Ideas

How has the right been so successful? Research shows that over the past quarter-century a well-funded, tightly coordinated ideological movement has come to dominate our country's marketplace of ideas. Their deeply ideological movement – with its well-funded advocacy think tanks and aggressive communications strategy – has increasingly set the public agenda, shifting national and local politics consistently to the right and away from the broader public interest. This movement has undermined society's understanding of the legitimate role of government and the need for balance between community, individual and corporate responsibilities.

Many of the movement’s actions have occurred behind-the-scenes, unrecognized by – even masked from – the general public.

It sounds like many voices, but it is really only a few. Imagine: There is an important issue in the news, and you look for information. You read an op-ed piece written by a "policy analyst" from some "institute." The next day, a columnist writes something similar, quoting "conservative scholars." You read a magazine article with a similar message, citing yet more experts. That night, you watch the news on TV and the commentators are expressing opinions that are beginning to sound awfully familiar. A politician’s speech becomes hard to distinguish from the rants of the radio talk-show host. A much-discussed book and a highly trafficked website echo the same themes, in similar language.

Maybe they're saying, "Social Security is going broke," or "public schools are failing," notions that have become "conventional wisdom." Everyone has heard these things repeated by many sources, many experts, many times. Everyone "knows" they're true.

In reality, though, these conventional wisdoms are misleading at best. You have heard a repeated message that is actually coming from very few sources who are coordinating or paying many people and organizations to say the same thing in creatively different ways.

There has been no comparable moderate/progressive counter-response to restore balance. As a result, we are witnessing a virtual monopolization of the marketplace of ideas. When one looks at the major print and broadcast media, at public opinion polls, and at the positions taken by politicians of both major parties, it becomes clear that there has been a steady shift toward the right-wing movement’s attitudes and policies.

Why has the right-wing been so effective over the past quarter-century?

"The unique thing we have done is combine the serious, high-quality research of a 'traditional think tank' like the Hoover Institution or Brookings Institution with the intense marketing and 'issue management' capabilities of an activist organization" - Stuart Butler, Vice President of Domestic and Economic Policy at Heritage Foundation, Heritage Foundation, Leadership in the New Conservative Era, 1995 Annual Report, p. 11
See Media Transparency's report on the Heritage Foundation

MONEY – The right-wing ideological movement is well-funded and carefully focused on building a "movement." The willingness of right-wing philanthropists to support the development and operation of large organizations with a coherent, long-term strategy for influencing the public agenda has been critical to the success of the right-wing movement.

From People for the American Way Foundation's study, "Buying a Movement,"

"These [right-wing funding] trends also stand in sharp contrast to the giving patterns of the large "progressive" foundations. A glance at a single program area makes the point. A recent article ... revealed that right-wing foundations had poured some $2.7 million into four conservative publications (The New Criterion, National Interest, Public Interest, and American Spectator), while their progressive counterparts (The Nation, The Progressive, Mother Jones, and In These Times) received less than ten percent of that amount in foundation grants. That enormous funding gap permits the conservative publications to focus more of their energies on 'reporting' and marketing their stories to mainstream press, and less on fundraising and advertising sales."

Over $1 billion spent in the 1990's. One study (Callahan, 1999) estimated that the core funders of the right-wing movement spent $1 billion during the 1990s in advancing its ideological positions. The Callahan study found that half of this total was donated as general support rather than specific project support – giving the grantees expenditure discretion as long as the money was spent to advance the ideological movement.

COORDINATION – The right-wing movement has a coordinated, multi-pronged approach to influencing policy-makers and public opinion. They have brought together economic and social conservatives, who otherwise might have supported quite different political agendas. There is even a weekly meeting to coordinate strategy and messaging among the different groups and funding sources, and Republicans. (Click here for more information about the weekly meetings.)

STRATEGIC MESSAGING – The right-wing ideological organizations use many channels to spread their message. Their approach draws effectively on communication techniques from the fields of marketing, public relations, and corporate image-management. They package their messages to appeal to people's deeper feelings and values, and they have refined their communication techniques and vocabularies to motivate their potential supporters effectively.

Creating Conventional Wisdom. One key to moving public opinion has been to create "conventional wisdom" in the public mind through the constant repetition of simple messages through multiple channels over a long period of time. Recognizable examples of "conventional wisdom" originating in right-wing politics include:

• "The media & academia are liberal."
• "Public schools are failing."
• "Social Security is going broke."
• "Increasing wages costs jobs."
• "Environmentalists care more about trees than jobs."
• "Regulations hurt business."

These are just some of the messages that the right-wing movement has spent vast amounts of time and money drumming into the public mind. After the public has been primed by the repetition of these messages, their politicians can step in and harvest the results. As more and more people are persuaded of the existence of these "problems," the "solutions" offered by right-wing politicians become increasingly appealing.

Again, from People for the American Way Foundation’s study, "Buying a Movement,"

"The result of this comprehensive and yet largely invisible funding strategy is an extraordinary amplification of the far right's views on a range of issues. The various funding recipients do not march in ideological lock-step, but they do promote many of the same issues to their respective audiences. They have thus been able to keep alive in the public debate a variety of policy ideas long ago discredited or discarded by the mainstream. That, in turn, has been of enormous value in the right's ongoing effort to reshape American society. The success of the right-wing efforts are seen at every level of government, as a vast armada of foundation-funded right-wing organizations has both fed and capitalized on the current swing to the right in Congress and in the state legislatures."

To learn more about how the right-wing movement has accomplished so much, please take a look at our collection of links to articles, reports and resources on this subject.

Next page, This Imbalance is Harming Society

References

1.  Moving a Public Policy Agenda: The Strategic Philanthropy of Conservative Foundations; Sally Covington; National Committee for Responsive Philanthrophy,Washington, DC: 1997 (excerpt)

2.  $1 Billion for Ideas: Conservative Think Tanks in the 1990s; David Callahan; National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy,Washington, DC: 1999  (exerpt)

3. Buying a Movement, A Report by the People For the American Way Foundation, undated.