Campaign for Economic Democracy (CED) was a California-based

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

founded by activist and politician

Tom Hayden Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, becoming an i ...

along with his wife, actress and activist

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...

. The CED was formed to promote

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

issues such as

rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws for the rental market of dwellings, with controversial effects on affordability of housing and tenancies. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price controls, limits on the rent that a landlord ...

, reduction of

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of Body of water, water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and ...

, investing in

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

and fighting against

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

, advocating

labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, the ...

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

and various anti-war initiatives. The CED helped Hayden shift his radical left image more to the center, to reduce opposition and allow him to win his political campaigns. At the same time, pressure from the CED was intended to move the Democratic Party to the left. The CED successfully passed rent control laws in 1979 in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, and they backed the

1986 California Proposition 65 Proposition 65 (formally titled The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, and also referred to as Prop 65) is a California law passed by direct voter initiative in 1986 by a 63%–37% vote. Its goals are to protect drinking wate ...

to reduce toxins discharged into public water sources. Another goal of the CED was to support Hayden's hard-fought 1982 bid for a seat on the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

, in which he was victorious. That same year, the CED helped to elect 60 California state politicians. The CED was funded at first by money from Fonda's film career, then increasingly by the growing

Jane Fonda's Workout ''Jane Fonda's Workout'', also known as ''Workout Starring Jane Fonda'', is a 1982 exercise video by actress Jane Fonda, based on an exercise routine developed by Leni Cazden and refined by Cazden and Fonda at Workout, their exercise studio in ...

media franchise, including three exercise studios in 1979–80, the best-selling '' Jane Fonda's Workout Book'' in 1981, and in 1982 a Platinum-certified exercise record and the hugely popular

home video Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...

, which developed into a series. In early 1982 before the LP and video were released, Hayden said the PAC was receiving $30,000 each month from Fonda's workout studios and book. In 1984, Fonda reduced her contributions to the CED in order to fund her own political interests, such as

abortion rights Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their p ...

and ending apartheid in South Africa. Even so, the CED reported that Fonda's Workout franchise had donated about $800,000 in 1986 – half of their annual budget. Fonda gradually pulled back from the CED, reducing her visibility due to the persistent political backlash against her 1972 visit to Hanoi, Vietnam, when she rashly posed for photos on an enemy

anti-aircraft artillery Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

unit. Hayden saw poll results showing that negative feelings for Fonda among voters were probably holding back his political rise. The CED disbanded in July 1986 to be replaced by Hayden's Campaign California using the same headquarters and staff, but widening to state and national aspirations.

References

{{reflist 1976 establishments in the United States 1986 disestablishments in the United States Organizations based in California Organizations established in 1976 Organizations disestablished in 1986 Defunct progressive organizations in the United States United States political action committees