Promise of America

LONGVIEW REPORT ON THE PROMISE OF AMERICA: An Assessment of Performance and Possibility

The Longview Report on the Promise of America (LRPA) seeks to assess how America is doing in light of its own core national values. Timed for release on President’s Day, this biennial report will draw on both data and speeches and papers of presidents (and other prominent Americans) to see how we measure up to our ideals and where these ideals still remain a distant promise.

Virtually alone among the advanced countries of the world, the United States does not issue a social report on the state of the nation. In contrast to the highly publicized Annual Economic Report to the President, prepared by the Council of Economic Advisors, the nation’s social condition – which involves everything from trends in social capital to infant mortality and life expectancy and the character of the care provided to children, the elderly, the sick, and the disabled – is not monitored by the federal government. With evidence mounting that non-economic factors are at least as important to human happiness and well-being as economic ones, the time has come to effectively communicate these issues to the opinion leaders, policy makers, and the broader American public.

The indicators used in the LRPA will be as rigorous and objective as possible, but they will not be value neutral. Instead, they will reflect the moral concerns that infuse all of Longview’s projects. Much as William Bennett’s Index of Leading Cultural Indicators advances a social and cultural conservatism, LRPA will embody our vision of a more caring and nurturant society, advancing our narrative about what is wrong with America and what kinds of policies are needed to rectify those wrongs.

Releasing the LRPA on President’s Day furthers a key Longview objective: to affirm that progressive values have deep roots in the nation’s history and are an essential part of the political mainstream. But the release date, which is timed to coincide with the beginning of election cycles every two years, will also maximize attention from the media, which typically links coverage to timely “hooks.” Of existing annual or biennial reports put out by think tanks, the one that receives the most media attention—the Economic Policy Institute’s economically focused The State of Working America—is released to coincide with Labor Day, and much of the coverage of it is linked thematically to the holiday.

Through a combination of resonant presidential quotes, colorful graphics, and lively (and pithy) text, the LRPA will be consciously targeted to a broad audience. More than a report on the nation’s social condition and quality of life, the LRPA is designed both to re-frame public debate and to place new issues on the public agenda. While its intended audience includes opinion leaders and advocates, it should also be of direct use to progressive elected officials as they wage campaigns and seek to develop public policies that embody America’s highest ideals.