Third Way (United States)


Third Way is a Washington, D.C.–based public policy think tank founded in 2005. The think tank develops political and policy ideas, conducts public opinion research and hosts an array of public events, issues briefings, etc. The organization has four policy divisions: Economics, National Security, Climate & Energy, and Social Policy & Politics. Third Way develops and advocates for policies that it says represent the "modern center-left ideas".
Third Way was honored as 2013 North American Think Tank of the Year by Prospect, a British monthly current affairs magazine, for its "original, influential, and rigorous work on the most pressing challenges facing people, governments, and businesses". The think tank's supporters and advocates include Democratic politicians, other center-left think tanks and individual donors. Third Way's funding also partially comes from philanthropies, foundations and personal donations. In the past decade, Third Way has been directly involved in policy issues such as the benefits of energy innovation, student accountability measures under the Every Student Succeeds Act, deficit reduction, proposals to reform Medicare and Medicaid, the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell" and new trade accords with Korea, Colombia and Panama.

History

Third Way grew out of the nonprofit group Americans for Gun Safety, which was formed in 2000 with the goal of resetting the gun control movement and advancing gun safety laws by using moderate ideas that appealed to both sides of the debate. AGS' primary political project was around closing the gun show loophole in the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, through which people could purchase guns at gun shows without needing a background check. It helped pass two 2000 state-level ballot initiatives in Colorado and Oregon to close the gun show loophole there and championed federal legislation carried by Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman, which failed to pass. AGS was folded into Third Way in 2005 in the wake of the 2004 presidential election as a policy, messaging and strategy idea center and think tank. Third Way was cofounded by Jonathan Cowan, Matt Bennett, Jim Kessler and Nancy Hale.

Areas of interest

Third Way has four major policy programs. The Economic Program focuses on helping the American middle class succeed in the midst of growing global competition.
The National Security Program focuses on issues of security, foreign policy, surveillance and technology, public opinion and the United States military.
Third Way has also houses a clean energy program that promotes a range of zero-emissions technologies, like carbon capture and advanced nuclear reactors as well as renewable energy, all in an effort to address the climate crisis. Finally, it has a Social Policy and Politics Program to advocate for change on progressive issues including marriage equality, education, marijuana, immigration and gun control.

Policy work

In 2010, Third Way sponsored a report written by William Galston of the Brookings Institution and Elaine Kamarck of Harvard University's Kennedy School entitled Change You Can Believe In Needs a Government You Can Trust. The report analyzed Americans' trust in government and reported it was in serious decline and could present significant challenges to the Obama administration's agenda. Third Way's other economic work has included rural reinvestment efforts, a plan to make opportunity more widely available to American middle class and defending the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
As an example of Third Way's rural reinvestment program, Third Way developed the policies framed in Spurring Weatherization Investments in Rural America, which was introduced by Representative Jim Clyburn and Senator Lindsey Graham as the Rural Energy Savings Program. Third Way argued for members of opposing parties to sit together at the President's annual address in 2011 and 2012.
Third Way has recently worked on a campaign to evaluate the Democratic Party connection with voters after the 2016 presidential election. Along those lines, Third Way hosted consultations and meetings with politicians and strategists from around the country to develop a Democratic strategy for winning 2018 and 2020 elections. As of 2017, Third Way's economic program is undertaking a campaign to highlight the scarcity of opportunity as a root cause of income inequality.
In March 2018, Third Way released a report outlining a new cause for the Democratic Party and several policy ideas that the organization says "redefines government's role in expanding the opportunity to earn". The Washington Post's coverage of the report considered it "an opening bid in the 2020 'ideas primary'". Other parts of Third Way's work are also related to politics. The organization has studied the battleground states and districts that will determine congressional majorities in 2018.
For example, their public opinion research and focus groups revealed that persuadable voters who backed Barack Obama and then Donald Trump saw Trump as focused on creating jobs and Democrats as "working for someone else". In its report on the findings, Third Way called for the Democratic Party to focus on becoming the Jobs Party to voters.

Specific topics

Third Way has worked on the following policy issues:
  1. The economic benefits of green energy. Since 2010, Third Way is lobbying the creation of an alternative clean energy and climate agenda. Part of this effort has included highlighting and advocating the work of advanced nuclear technology start-ups. The organization has recently partnered with the Department of Energy's Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear to connect advanced nuclear developers with federal laboratories.
  2. Marriage equality. Third Way launched the Commitment Campaign in 2011 with the aim of finding common ground between the LGBT and religious community that culminated in reframing the marriage equality debate to focus on "love and commitment" instead of "rights and benefits". The group also worked on the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell" and the Defense of Marriage Act.
  3. Trade agreements. Third Way advocated for new trade accords with Korea, Colombia and Panama and advocated for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
  4. Gun safety. Third Way has continued to work on similar issues to those addressed by Americans for Gun Safety, which include universal background checks.

    Criticism

Special interests

The majority of the think tank's funding comes from individuals with close ties to the banking industry and its board of trustees consists mostly of investment bankers. Political commentator and Bernie Sanders campaign official David Sirota suggested that the think tank's initiatives to combat Social Security expansion despite popular sentiment is because it would cause trustees of the think tank to pay higher taxes. Hunter of Daily Kos has suggested Third Way's ties to the banking industry is the reason for its opposition to Senator Elizabeth Warren's platform of Wall Street reform. Investigative journalist Lee Fang of The Nation alleges the think tank's ties to the Democratic Party are "tenuous" and that it exists to serve as a vehicle for corporate and right-wing interests to shape the economic policies of the party. Writing in The Intercept, Akela Lacy describes Third Way as a "center-left, corporate and GOP donor-funded nonprofit" which advocates for neoliberal policies and is staunchly opposed to Medicare For All.

Invalid research

In 2017, the Third Way think tank conducted a listening tour in rural Wisconsin as part of a political research effort to understand the results of the 2016 presidential election. This tour was the focus of an article in The Atlantic magazine, where reporter Molly Ball observed many focus group participants expressing strongly politically partisan views that challenged Third Way's ideology that political partisanship was not most people’s primary concern. Ball recounts hearing focus group participants blame things like government bureaucracy, changes in society and the family, young people, welfare recipients, Muslims, Republicans, Democrats, income inequality, gerrymandering and union rights for their problems. Despite this, Ball writes that Third Way summarized its findings in a short report that ignored all the sentiments heard on the tour which challenged Third Way's ideology and instead selectively highlighted sentiments which adhered to Third Way's ideology:
As a result of Ball's account, the validity of Third Way's research has come into question. However, Third Way strongly disputed Ball's claim in a public post. Third Way's Matt Bennett wrote in response: "We are dismayed that in the story, Molly writes that we omitted information that is actually in the report we drafted about the WI visit. And she indicates that we have drawn conclusions that we do not reach and do not share". He also stated: