Rootstrikers
Rootstrikers is a nonpartisan U.S. activist organization focused on reducing the influence of special-interest money and corruption in politics.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Rootstrikers is a U.S. nonpartisan grassroots organization concerned with political corruption, campaign-finance reform, and the influence of special-interest money on government. It was created in 2011 by Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig and political consultant and activist Joe Trippi. The organization’s name expresses its central theory of change: reformers should address the root causes of political dysfunction, particularly the financing system that makes elected officials dependent on wealthy donors and organized interests, rather than dealing only with individual abuses or policy symptoms. The organization developed from earlier reform initiatives known as Change Congress and Fix Congress First. In November 2011, Rootstrikers became a project of United Republic, a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) organization. It later reorganized in September 2012 under the Fund for the Republic, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to challenging the influence of money in American politics. By July 2013, Rootstrikers had become a project of Demand Progress, an advocacy group associated with internet freedom, civil liberties, and political reform. The available reference material does not establish whether Rootstrikers continues to operate independently or under the same name today. Rootstrikers promoted a reform agenda that included publicly funded elections, limits and transparency for political expenditures, and measures intended to reduce the movement of personnel between Congress and K Street lobbying firms. It also advanced a constitutional argument that corporate entities should not receive the same political rights as natural persons. These ideas were consolidated in Lawrence Lessig’s Anti-Corruption Pledge, which Rootstrikers launched in February 2012. The pledge invited members of the public and political candidates to support a package of reforms addressing election finance, lobbying, and corporate political power. The organization also worked through coalition-building and public events. In October 2011, Rootstrikers joined the conservative Tea Party Patriots in a Conference on the Constitutional Convention, seeking support for an Article V convention to propose constitutional amendments. In November 2012, Rootstrikers was one of 15 groups in the Money Out / Voters In coalition that sponsored an “A 28th Amendment” conference at UCLA School of Law. The event examined competing proposals for a constitutional amendment addressing money in politics, corporate rights, and campaign finance. Lawrence Lessig delivered the keynote address. Rootstrikers’ public identity was closely associated with Lessig’s scholarship and advocacy. The name refers to Henry David Thoreau’s observation in Walden that many people attack the branches of evil while too few strike at its root. Lessig used the metaphor to argue that campaign-finance dependence was a structural cause of political problems. Rootstrikers therefore functioned less like a commercial consumer brand than like an advocacy platform, organizing vehicle, and public-facing reform campaign. Its principal offerings were educational materials, petitions and pledges, coalition events, and technology-assisted grassroots engagement rather than products sold for profit.
History
Rootstrikers was founded in April 2011 by Lawrence Lessig and Joe Trippi as a nonpartisan grassroots effort to address corruption in American politics. Its principal diagnosis was that many political problems originate in the campaign-finance system: elected officials and candidates may become reliant on wealthy donors, corporations, lobbyists, and organized special interests. The organization therefore emphasized structural reform rather than focusing only on individual misconduct. The name Rootstrikers was inspired by a passage in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden about the relative scarcity of people who attack the root of evil rather than its branches. Lessig applied the metaphor to money in politics. In a public appearance on The Daily Show in December 2011, host Jon Stewart suggested that Lessig needed a more accessible term than “rootstriker,” but the organization retained the name. Before adopting or consolidating the Rootstrikers identity, the initiative had also been known as Change Congress and Fix Congress First. Rootstrikers’ organizational structure changed several times during its early history. In November 2011 it became a project of United Republic, a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) organization. In September 2012 it reorganized under the Fund for the Republic, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to challenging the role of money in American politics. By July 2013 it had become a project of Demand Progress. These affiliations indicate that Rootstrikers operated primarily as a sponsored or hosted advocacy project rather than as a conventional independent commercial company. The available material does not provide a current legal entity, headquarters, staffing structure, or confirmed present-day operating status. The organization’s agenda included public financing of elections, limits and transparency for political expenditures, and an effort to end the revolving door between congressional employment and K Street lobbying. It also advanced the view that constitutional political rights should belong to natural persons rather than corporations. On February 24, 2012, Lessig introduced the Anti-Corruption Pledge as a Rootstrikers project on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. The pledge translated the organization’s broad program into four commitments: publicly funded elections; limited and transparent political expenditures; restrictions on the movement between Congress and lobbying firms; and reaffirmation that the Declaration of Independence’s reference to unalienable rights concerns natural persons, not corporations. Rootstrikers also pursued its goals through alliances that crossed conventional ideological boundaries. During the weekend of October 29, 2011, it joined the Tea Party Patriots in a Conference on the Constitutional Convention. The event sought to build support for an Article V convention to propose constitutional amendments. In the U.S. constitutional system, such a convention would require requests from two-thirds of the state legislatures, and the convention process had not been used to propose an amendment as of the period described in the reference material. In November 2012, Rootstrikers participated in the Money Out / Voters In coalition, one of 15 organizations sponsoring an “A 28th Amendment” conference at UCLA School of Law. Lessig was the keynote speaker. The conference compared numerous amendment proposals, including measures dealing primarily with campaign finance and others addressing corporate constitutional rights. It included expert presentations, discussion of questions surrounding amendment language, breakout sessions, and a call for continued action. Rootstrikers also intended to use technology to engage supporters, reflecting the later relationship with Demand Progress and the broader shift toward online civic organizing. Its activities included public education, pledge collection, coalition work, constitutional-reform advocacy, and grassroots mobilization. It did not present itself as a seller of consumer goods; its “offerings” were campaigns, ideas, organizing tools, and events. No reliable source in the supplied material establishes its current leadership, financial position, headquarters, or whether its original website remains operational.
- 2013
Rootstrikers becomes a Demand Progress project
[1]Rootstrikers begins operating under Demand Progress.
- 2012
Anti-Corruption Pledge launches
[1]Lessig launches the Rootstrikers Anti-Corruption Pledge, which promotes public election funding, transparent spending, limits on the congressional lobbying revolving door, and natural-person political rights.
- 2012
Reorganization under the Fund for the Republic
[1]Rootstrikers reorganizes as a project under the Fund for the Republic.
- 2012
A 28th Amendment conference
[1]Rootstrikers joins the Money Out / Voters In coalition in sponsoring a UCLA conference comparing proposed constitutional amendments on money in politics and corporate rights.
- 2011
Rootstrikers is founded
[1]Lawrence Lessig and Joe Trippi establish Rootstrikers to address political corruption and the influence of special-interest money in U.S. elections.
- 2011
The organization joins United Republic
[1]Rootstrikers, previously associated with Change Congress and Fix Congress First, becomes a project of United Republic.
- 2011
Constitutional Convention conference
[1]Rootstrikers and the Tea Party Patriots hold a joint conference seeking support for an Article V constitutional convention.
Products and positioning
A nonpartisan, reform-oriented grassroots advocacy platform focused on the structural role of money in U.S. politics, campaign-finance dependence, lobbying influence, and corporate political rights.
Advocacy pledge · 2012
Anti-Corruption Pledge
A public-facing reform pledge launched by Lawrence Lessig in February 2012. It combined four positions: public financing of elections, limits and transparency for political expenditures, restrictions on the movement between Congress and K Street lobbying, and a constitutional distinction between the rights of natural persons and those of corporations.
Digital advocacy
Grassroots civic-engagement platform
Rootstrikers planned to use technology to engage supporters in campaigns concerning campaign finance, political corruption, constitutional reform, and the influence of special interests. The supplied material does not identify a specific software product or platform.
Marketing campaigns
- 2012Anti-Corruption Pledge
United States
Rootstrikers invited members of the public and political actors to support a four-part reform program involving public election funding, transparent political spending, limits on the congressional revolving door, and protection of political rights for natural persons rather than corporations.
Outcome. The pledge became a central public expression of the organization’s reform agenda; the supplied sources do not report participation totals or a legislative result.
- 2012Money Out / Voters In: A 28th Amendment conference
United States
Rootstrikers joined a 15-organization coalition that sponsored a UCLA School of Law conference examining proposed constitutional amendments related to campaign finance and corporate political rights.
Outcome. The conference compared amendment proposals and concluded with breakout sessions and a call for further action.
- 2011Conference on the Constitutional Convention
United States
Rootstrikers collaborated with the Tea Party Patriots on a conference supporting discussion of an Article V convention to propose constitutional amendments, including possible reforms addressing political corruption and campaign finance.
Outcome. The event generated discussion and advocacy but did not produce a constitutional convention.
Brand decisions
2013
Become a Demand Progress projectM&ABackground
Rootstrikers sought to use technology and grassroots organizing to engage supporters.
Action taken
By July 2013, Rootstrikers operated as a project of Demand Progress.
Aftermath
The supplied material does not establish the project’s later operating status or organizational structure.
2012
Reorganize under the Fund for the RepublicStrategyBackground
The organization continued its campaign-finance and political-corruption advocacy after its initial period under United Republic.
Action taken
Rootstrikers reorganized under the Fund for the Republic, a 501(c)(3) organization.
Aftermath
The organization subsequently became a Demand Progress project.
2011
Adopt a structural campaign-finance focusStrategyBackground
The organization’s founders viewed the campaign-finance system and special-interest influence as root causes of political corruption.
Action taken
Rootstrikers centered its advocacy on publicly financed elections, transparent spending, lobbying reform, and corporate political rights.
Aftermath
The structural approach shaped the organization’s pledge, coalition work, and constitutional-reform activities.
2011
Become a United Republic projectM&ABackground
Rootstrikers had previously been associated with the names Change Congress and Fix Congress First.
Action taken
The initiative became a project of United Republic, a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) organization.
Aftermath
Rootstrikers later moved under other nonprofit umbrellas.
Recent events
- 2013
Rootstrikers becomes a Demand Progress project[1]
M&A
By July 2013, Rootstrikers was operating as a project of Demand Progress, an advocacy organization associated with technology-enabled civic engagement.
- 2012
Rootstrikers launches the Anti-Corruption Pledge[1]
Campaign
Lawrence Lessig launched the Rootstrikers Anti-Corruption Pledge on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, outlining commitments involving public election funding, transparent political spending, the revolving door, and corporate political rights.
- 2012
Rootstrikers reorganizes under the Fund for the Republic[1]
Other
Rootstrikers moved under the umbrella of the Fund for the Republic, a 501(c)(3) organization focused on the influence of money in American politics.
- 2012
Rootstrikers joins the Money Out / Voters In 28th Amendment conference[1]
Campaign
Rootstrikers joined 14 other organizations in sponsoring a UCLA School of Law conference examining proposed constitutional amendments on campaign finance and corporate political rights.
- 2011
Rootstrikers is founded as a campaign-finance reform organization[1]
Other
Lawrence Lessig and Joe Trippi created Rootstrikers to challenge political corruption and the influence of special-interest money in U.S. elections.
- 2011
Rootstrikers becomes a project of United Republic[1]
M&A
The organization, previously associated with the names Change Congress and Fix Congress First, became a project of United Republic.
Sources1 sources
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