• As a longtime Democratic Party committeeperson and progressive activist, the author is well positioned to write an analysis of grassroots politics.
• The Democratic Party’s National Convention is to be held in Philadelphia in 2016. This will spark national interest in the local Democratic Party, a much greater interest than is usually paid to local grassroots politics.
• The book provides insight into the political perspectives of millennials interested in grassroots politics.
• The time is ripe for such a book. Activists profiled in the book are challenging the top-down modus operandi of the Philadelphia Democratic Party—which is no longer one machine but has rather fragmented into groups of competing factions. There will soon be opportunities for significant change in the Philadelphia Democratic Party, which is currently staffed by ward leaders and committee people already in their 60s, 70s, and 80s.
• Although this book is intended primarily for self-identified progressives, the analysis of strategies to encourage voter participation and a voice for committee people in the ward structure is applicable to a broader range of political philosophies/political parties.
