The League engages our grassroots members to set the vision and direction of the League using a process called Program Planning. All League action and advocacy is based on our policy positions. Each year, members are asked to review our position statements and make recommendations: to retain the positions, update them, or take on a new study of a topic we don’t yet cover with our positions. Program Planning discussions also help local leagues elevate themes for community education events or topics that could be important for local advocacy.
Why We Do Program Planning
Program planning enables League members to help decide where we can be most effective and which issues deserve our time and efforts.
For the League, “program” means “those issues impacted by government and chosen by members for concerted study and action.”
A Member-centered Multi-step Process
Members recommend which issues to address, new studies to undertake and changes to LWV advocacy positions.
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- LWVPDX’s 2020 study on city government
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- 2020 City Government advocacy position: click for a larger view
The program planning process begins in December or January. Members discuss the issues for League focus in the next League year, which begins the next summer. Members consider what the League should do at the local level every year. We make recommendations for the state League and national League every other year. During the review of the League advocacy positions, members decide how to use them for action at the each governmental level. If new advocacy is needed, recommendations can include an in-depth study of new issues or restudies of an issue, if our advocacy positions don’t fully address current problems.
The process ends in May or June, at the annual meeting of the local membership or the biennial convention of LWVOR or LWVUS. At that time members vote on the proposals they developed earlier for the League at each level.