ADA IS:
Americans for Democratic Action has been and will continue to be a forthright liberal voice of this nation. We work to advocate progressive stances on civil rights and liberties, social and economic justice, sensible foreign policy, and sustainable environmental policy. ADA advances this agenda by maintaining an active and visible presence nationwide, raising the level of debate on the side of the progressive movement and taking action on the national level. By working together with other like-minded organizations when we can and alone when we have to, we will never shy away from issues or opposition.
ADA is America’s most experienced independent liberal lobbying organization. In the spirit of the New Deal and ADA founders Eleanor Roosevelt, renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith, and former Senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey we lobby through coalition partnerships, through direct advocacy, and through the media. Our lobbying philosophy is based on democratic action – motivating our grassroots members to lobby their senators and representatives as constituent-advocates. With 65,000 members nationwide, numerous state and local chapters, and its headquarters in the District of Columbia actively engaging in the political process, ADA continually strives to push for democratic and progressive values and ideals in American policy. Our founders included Eleanor Roosevelt, labor leader Walter Reuther, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and former Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
ADA continues to lead in Washington and around the country by pushing the agenda of social and economic justice. Our Working Families Win project is a model for citizen empowerment and policy education that is helping to get our country back on the right course.
Since ADA’s founding in 1947, the Annual Voting Records have served as the standard measure of political liberalism. Combining 20 key votes on a wide range of social and economic issues, both domestic and international, the Liberal Quotient (LQ) provides a basic overall picture of an elected official’s political position.
Each year, ADA’s Legislative Committee selects 20 votes it considers the most important during that session. ADA’s National Board and/or National Executive Committee approves those votes. Each member receives 5 points if he/she voted with ADA, and does not receive 5 points if he/she voted against us or was absent. The total possible is 100.
ADA’s Voting Records and the Liberal Quotient are used widely by discerning voters, researchers, scholars, journalists and students. Our Voting Records have been widely mimicked by other organizations of all political stripes.
The files below are in Adobe PDF format. These and additional ADA Voting Records dating back to 1947 are also available in excel format by e-mail at dkusler@adaction.org.
Voting Records for past years are available by selecting a year from the drop-down box below. Depending on your browser configuration, the document will either open in the same window or download to your downloads folder
