One hypothesis about the decline and fall of ACORN.

After 38 years of longevity (1970 to 2008), including huge growth over its last decade, in 2008 and 2009 the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was rocked by an embezzlement scandal and two controversies and declined precipitously. By the spring of 2010, all city and statewide ACORN operations had either disaffiliated from the national organization or collapsed altogether, and in November 2010 ACORN filed for bankruptcy. Because ACORN was widely considered the nation’s largest and most powerful group organizing the poor, the organization’s breathtakingly swift destruction warrants analysis. This commentary analyzes one hypothesis that might have contributed to ACORN’s vulnerability to smear campaigns: the organization’s long-time practice of combining direct action organizing with individual service provision.