Social Capital Campaign
Research testifies that there is a wreckage of trust among the American people. We started a collaborative center-right project to promote social capital and the institutions that create it in order to combat political polarization.
Research testifies that there is a wreckage of trust among the American people. The Social Capital Campaign, originally inspired by the Joint Economic Committee's Social Capital Project, was internally developed and launched by The Clapham Group in 2021 to address this painful truth. The campaign is a collaborative center-right project to promote social capital and the institutions that create it in order to combat political polarization and provide a narrative framework that promotes a number of key policy areas including family stability, family affordability, youth investment, civil society, and work.
Sociopolitical Landscape Analysis
We produced an internal analysis that surveyed existing research on polarization in the U.S. and the role, factors, and measurements of social capital in the U.S. We also produced an internal landscape, review, and assessment of national organizations and other markets/subject leaders who are attentive to counteracting political polarization and initiating trust-building programs/movements/coalitions. This initial research provided context for the campaign and revealed the present, unique opportunity for a center-right entity to engage in social capital building efforts.
Coalition Building.
We successfully recruited an advisory board of 13 influential leaders to advise the Campaign. The board includes leading policy experts, corporate leaders, elite scholars, and other extremely valuable partners across the conservative spectrum.
Campaign & Collaborative Project Development.
Since the Social Capital Campaign’s conception in January 2021, we have collected research, formed a valuable advisory board, created a funding strategy, identified and initiated strategic partnerships, and hosted three online convenings with leading thinkers and policy experts. In July 2021, we initiated the next phase of campaign development: a 12-month process to produce working papers and policy proposals that address key issues, opportunities, existing players, and existing policies relevant to five particular policy areas inspired by the JEC SCP and specified in early stages of research. The 12-month process also includes collaboration with center-left groups that will inform our policy research via participation and conversation on collaborative roundtables with the intention of establishing areas of policy consensus and broadening the Campaign’s audience.