"The Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky & His Legacy," narrated by actor Alec Baldwin, examines the life and legacy of the controversial community organizer Alinsky and his modern-day legacy. The first half of the program chronicles the Chicago-based organizer Saul Alinsky and three key Alinsky organizations to show how his techniques developed over time including The Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, in Chicago's blighted stockyards in the 1930's. By forming an unprecedented coalition between the Catholic Church and the Meatpackers Union, Alinsky was able to force several landmark concessions from the meatpacking industry.
These three organizations show how Alinsky's ideas, in turn, influenced the civil rights movement, the farmworkers struggle and many Vietnam era political protests. The second half of the program jumps forward to the late 1990's and examines two contemporary 'peoples organizations' that are part of the Industrial Areas Foundation-a national network.