International Workers Party - After The 1970s

After The 1970s

Newman and his followers created an array of public organizations of which the most important were the New Alliance Party (NAP), an electoral party, which at its 1979 inception considered itself "pro-socialist" but also had a broader issue-oriented appeal; the All Stars Talent Show Network, a national youth program which staged talent competitions; and the Castillo Center, a theater and arts facility in Manhattan that would later merge with All Stars (more on All Stars below).

The NAP reached out to individuals and organizations interested in multiculturalism and empowerment. It ran candidates, organized forums and published a weekly newspaper. In 1988 the New Alliance Party fielded Lenora Fulani for President, organizing a national drive that resulted in her becoming the first woman and the first African American to be on the ballot in all 50 states. This experience helped pave the way for the Newman group's later successes in less radical forms of third-party politics.

Some former members say (and have written in detail and testified under oath in court) that the IWP continued to operate "underground" in this period. For example, some of these individuals claim that it was the IWP members who selected out members of NAP to be invited into social therapy (and also, conversely, steered social therapy patients into NAP). Some former members also claim that IWP members would gradually reveal the "secret" of the IWP's existence to those deemed worthy of joining the vanguard (several former social therapy patients in Atlanta affirmed at a 2004 American Family Foundation conference that they had been approached in this manner in or around 2001 and 2002). Finally, some former members say that the IWP membership answered in the late 1980s and early 1990s to a small group termed the "Steering Committee," which consisted of the leading members of Newman's various organizations, including NAP's Fulani.

The IWP emulates democratic centralist parties in that it has a "Central Committee," a governing body that supposedly represents the most dedicated and loyal members (some critics question its representativeness). In theory, democratic centralism allows for debate over strategy and tactics, although once the Central Committee arrives at a policy decision, all party members are required to follow through with it.

Some former members say that the Central Committee of the IWP is a means for Newman to control the social status of IWP members and that its members have little capacity to oppose Newman's personal will. For instance, when the party moved away from street organizing in minority communities during the 1990s, some members who left at that time (or shortly before) accused Newman of arbitrarily imposing new policies that had the effect, in the eyes of the dissidents, of turning the IWP into a personal fundraising machine for Newman. Supporters of Newman, however, claimed that the new policies were collectively agreed upon and were intended to create the conditions for broad-based independent electoral efforts by connecting with and building bridges between multiple communities. It is indisputable that, in the years since then, the IWP and its various entities have developed far greater political influence (in the New York City area, at least) and operate among broader circles than in the 1980s.