The Transpartisan Review
“…collaboratively co-edited from many sides of the political spectrum…”
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Founded in 2016, and based on a decades long friendship and writing partnership of executive editors A. Lawrence Chickering & NISLAPP founder James S. Turner, The Transpartisan Review was developed to explore new approaches to political engagement, with an emphasis on the search for solutions to difficult issues. The Transpartisan Review believes the mainstream debate focuses too much on governments, ignoring and excluding citizens and private, subjective values when addressing public challenges. In partnership with leaders from several fields, The Transpartisan Review has shared many perspectives from across the political spectrum, endeavoring to highlight the powerful, transpartisan nature of meaningful citizen/government partnerships.
What Transpartisan Means
As Jim Turner was fond of explaining, at the heart of the concept of transpartisan you will find a central truth:
“Each individual’s politics are as unique as their fingerprints.”
Which is why transpartisan is less a political movement and more of an understanding that we are all, driven by our unique perspectives, in this together.
Project advisor and MoveOn.org co-founder Joan Blades approaches transpartisan practically:
“For me, transpartisan is about getting everyone in a room – regardless of their political leanings – to embrace their natural, shared desire for healthy community and encourage them to respectfully listen to each other.”
John Steiner, another transpartisan project advisor and one of the most active and supportive advocates of the transpartisan movement, digs deeper, describing it as:
“A meme, a field, a constituency, a dynamic, a movement, and even a philosophy. Like pragmatism – its homegrown, American predecessor from the late 19th to the early 20th century – transpartisan has emerged as an important political expression in the 21st century, recognizing differences agreeably while mostly focusing on our commonalities.”
Transpartisan thought provides a lens to examine our communities for the partnerships that work. Transpartisan partnerships offer a path to sustainable relationships between the citizenry and the agencies which define our societies.
About the Founders
A. Lawrence Chickering & James S. Turner
A. Lawrence Chickering, a conservative Independent activist, who began his professional career at the National Review and attorney James S. Turner, an original Nader’s Raider and progressive Democrat, developed The Transpartisan Review in 2016 to explore the complicated relationship between individuals and governments, and to share their observations on the transpartisan nature of our society. The two collaboratively wrote and published Voice of the People: The Transpartisan Imperative in American Life in 2008 to examine the key, often dispositive, role the great majority (about 70%) of US citizens who avoid partisan identity can play in determining the policy course of the United States. Voice of the People would act as a foundation for The Transpartisan Review, creating a platform for Chickering & Turner, along with many collaborators, to share their essays, articles and even full journals dedicated to this impactful perspective which guided their work.
The Transpartisan Effect
The United States political system (represented by small, partisan minorities) is electing politicians while large majorities of citizens withhold their allegiance from formal political processes and parties, passively acquiescing and accepting the outcomes without enthusiasm. Confining political discourse to the narrow left/right spectrum and a small minority of voting age-eligible citizens promotes widespread political lethargy and alienation. Public alienation, especially from the two major parties, is very real. It is time to start understanding why people are so turned off. A good place to start might be to understand that peoples’ identity is not tied to either the left or the right.
Billions of people globally, including millions of Americans, are enthusiastically embracing the new tools of information dissemination and economic efficiency – social media, internet, shopping, sharing, dating, traveling, virtually every aspect of daily life – created by technology entrepreneurs, engineers, and marketers. These information-based tools transcend left/right ideology, while political tools enforce it.
To successfully fulfill its role of representing our society, the system needs to expand both our discourse and our institutions. It needs to start creating a system that effectively responds to the needs of increasingly individuated people by empowering them to play active roles in meeting public challenges. Forces shaping the world are sending strong signals demanding significant institutional and policy reforms. Elected officials need to engage with citizens in very public forums on multiple issues, especially including opportunities for involvement. The transpartisan effect provides a guide to reaching these goals.
Our society, as Chickering & Turner encouraged:
“Stands on the brink of realizing fantastic, new possibilities. Aligning its politics with its people offers an exciting opportunity to realize the promise of these possibilities.”
To learn more and explore the works of Lawry Chickering & Jim Turner (and their collaborators) visit
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