Subtitled:
“It’s gonna take the government (stupid)!” and
“As it did with Oregon's pioneers, it takes WITTs, not YOYOs, to succeed.”

The Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP) proposes a coordinated, strategic campaign to change and act upon the public perception of the proper role of government. The goal is twofold: (1) to enhance Oregonians' trust, respect, and support for the role of government in the lives of Oregonians , and (2) for Oregonians to recognize that, as it was with the pioneers who established the state, the “we’re in this together” people (WITTs) will be more successful than “you’re on your own” people (YOYOs) in bringing about and maintaining the policies that make Oregon special.* The long-term success of Oregon’s progressive public policies rests on it.

Veteran pollster and public opinion analyst Adam Davis refers to Oregonians’ gross misunderstanding and widespread distrust of government as key components of a “perfect storm” of public opinion that impedes long-term progressive change and threatens Oregon’s past accomplishments.

This sad state of affairs did not arise spontaneously. From Ronald Reagan’s oft-quoted 1981 inaugural claim that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem,” to right-wing strategist Grover Norquist’s stated goal to cut taxes until government was “down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub,” conservative propaganda has molded public perception of government and fostered an unhealthy number of YOYOs who derail policies that would improve the common good.

The public’s negative perception of the role of public structures is a liability. Social justice advocates not only bear the burden of demonstrating that a particular problem can be ameliorated, but also must go the extra round and show that government is the appropriate and necessary agent for change. Until the public understands that government is “we” – not “it” or “them” – and that government serves a critical role in creating opportunity, problem solving and leveling the playing field, progressive change-agents are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.

Misunderstanding and distrust of government has already taken its toll on Oregon’s public policy agenda. The Oregon Health Plan is a prime example. The plan was whittled to an endangered species status by budget-cut driven policy choices from a legislature and electorate unwilling to support the program. The plan was (and is) popular, but it fell victim to the distrust of government. Efforts to again make Oregon a leader in health care policy are ultimately doomed, unless the public’s perception of the role of government improves.

The tenuous nature of Oregon’s land use system is another example. In the 1970s when the land use system was created, government was seen as a problem solver. Today government is painted as the problem-maker and the land use debate rages on. The Measure 49 win will be short-lived unless the distrust of government is addressed.
Distrust of government in the last 15 years led the legislature and voters to establish supermajority requirements for raising revenue, saving unanticipated revenues for rainy days, and spending reserve funds in fiscal emergencies. The public will never remove these power-to-the-minority fiscal handcuffs until they recognize and appreciate the important role of government and that we’re in this together.

Yet the time may be ripe for turning Oregon into first state in the nation where the public supports the role of public structures and evidences a WITT mentality in our policies and actions. Events such as Katrina, the health care crisis and the Great Recession have revealed to many that the conservative mantra has led us down the wrong path.

In Oregon, things can look different here if we support public structures and recognize that we're in this together.
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*The terms WITTs and YOYOs were coined by Jared Bernstein in his book "All Together Now: Common Sense for a New Economy."