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ACCREDITATION REPORT, PROGRESSIVE PARTY OF MISSOURI
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The Accreditation Committee has completed its review of the Progressive Party of Missouri application, and has voted to recommend approval. We are submitting this referral to you, for a vote by the Coordinating Committee.
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PROGRESSIVE PARTY OF MISSOURI, APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
AUTHORIZATION FOR AFFILIATION. The Progressive Party of Missouri, meeting in convention in Columbia on June 23 and 24, 2001 voted to affiliate with ASGP (now the Green Party of the United States).
HISTORY. The Progressive Party of Missouri was formed on June 24, 2001. Its founders include many of Missouri’s most experienced, and most respected, Green activists. Following several years of difficult relations among Missouri’s Greens, the June convention was called to “bring together all Greens in Missouri who want a respectful and democratic process and who want a united political party with Green values.” The party’s founders include veterans of the earliest Green organizing, dating to 1984, and others who have been active in local, state, and presidential campaigns, including the Nader campaigns of 1996 and 2000. These activists have demonstrated a long history of statewide organizing, networking with kindred organizations, and electoral action.
DOCUMENTATION. In support of its accreditation application, PPM provided extensive documentation of its history, goals, and structure. Those documents include by-laws, detailed histories of Green organizing in Missouri, newsletters, and platforms dating to 1991 and 1992. Collectively, they certify the party’s commitment to the four pillars and ten key values, and explain how the party meets our accreditation criteria.
OBSERVATIONS. For many years Green organizing in Missouri has been afflicted by serious conflicts over strategy and more importantly, over internal process and tolerance for diversity and dissent. These conflicts have produced deep and lasting resentments among many participants. In its review, the Accreditation Committee was impressed with the candor and sincerity of PPM activists, who despite all odds have worked hard to establish a democratic Green party organization, open to all Greens, reflective of the diversity of Green thought and experience in Missouri.
ACCREDITATION REVIEW. Aware of both the history and the critical importance of the Green party in Missouri, the Accreditation Committee has treated this application with the utmost care and diligence. We have waited the entire 60-day review period, to ensure that all interested parties, both within and without Missouri, could consider and comment on the application. We have provided accreditation information to any in Missouri who have asked, including representatives of the “Gateway Greens,” the “Missouri Green Party,” and others. To the greatest extent possible, we have been patient and thorough. We have maintained a completely neutral stance relative to this (or any other) application from Missouri. (NOTE: No other Missouri application, and no objections, challenges or complaints whatsoever, have been received by the Committee.)We are satisfied that the Progressive Party of Missouri is, in fact, the best expression of Green politics in that state, and we are confident that PPM will continue to distinguish itself as a legitimate, democratic, and thoroughly Green vehicle for electoral, direct action, and educational work, consistent with the very highest aspirations of Greens in Missouri.
Therefore, we are delighted to make the following recommendation:
RECOMMENDATION: The Accreditation Committee has reviewed the Progressive Party of Missouri application and supporting materials, and finds that the Party satisfies ASGP’s accreditation criteria. The Accreditation Committee offers the following recommendation to the Coordinating Committee:
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RESOLUTION proposed for CC approval (majority vote required)
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RESOLVED, that the Coordinating Committee of the Green Party of the United States hereby approves the application of the Progressive Party of Missouri for full membership. We welcome the Progressive Party of Missouri to the national party organization, and look forward to working with Missouri Greens in an enduring and effective alliance.