Resecuring Democracy

I think democracy is losing ground in America. I'm not very optimistic about the prospects because it was imperfect to begin with and the last couple years it has lost some ground. Some of these seem out of reach altogether.

• Corruption in Government
  • Accountability: There is no effective accountability of a Congress or body of law that does not represent its people. Voters interests are simply not honored in Congress often enough.
  • Robust: Recent developments have shown that our implementation of democracy has holes, weaknesses and drawbacks. We must upgrade and rebuild our democracy to ensure that it can withstand attacks and the tests of time.
  • Integrity: Fairness of electoral representation does not exist. The influence of certain groups far outweighs the influence of others. This must be made even and parity given to all citizens and groups. This includes total transparency in election money flows, eliminating superPACs and making lobbying more balanced.
• Representation of the Voter
  • Moral Leadership: Closely related to accountability, folks in power must stand up and do their job rather than serve themselves. Service must be disconnected from self interest.
  • Term Limits: Modest term limits of say, 12-20 years be imposed on all members of Congress. We must disconnect their vote from their electability.
  • Citizens United: At the same time the access of some and the influence of others be reduced and allow for a balanced representation of all peoples and groups and individuals. Crowd sourcing a view is healthy, but a stranglehold is not.
  • Two Party Duopoly: The two party system masks the fact that smaller parties hide within the two established parties or are ignored completely. We need a system with a) Ranked voting and b) functioning multi-party system.
• Manipulating the Voter
  • Participation: Greater access to local representatives and the ability to organize and discuss issues.
  • Digital Bubble: We finally achieved targeted advertising and targeted entertainment and it has left us of a bubble that doesn't give us any exposure to multiple view points.
  • Transparency: Why is it acceptable to hide information from citizens? We need visibility into everything, not just the final legislation. Platforms should publish goals, progress reports with explicit platforms and the inner workings of Congress should be organized and made transparent and easy to understand to the public.
• Making the Vote Irrelevant
  • Gerrymandering: Lines are being drawn to prevent certain groups or certain parts from winning any representation.
  • Electoral College Reform: Representational election of our President is necessary. A proportional electoral college (still 538) would provide 10x the resolution and eliminate the rural bias. This is a good compromise and preserves the values of our republic while providing a more just representation. This would also give a boost to a multi party system.
  • Limiting Access: Access to voting and voter rights have taken a step back in the last year or two.
• Discouraging Voters
  • Disenfranchised Americans: Folks that do have access are discouraged or (practically speaking) blocked from voting as a result of distrust or long voting lines.
  • Fake News: While simultaneously we are being bombarded with fake news, blatantly false reporting and false advertisements and many people cannot tell the difference and the technology to deceive is improving rapidly. This results in part of the population becoming discouraged from participating in citizenship and government.
  • Voter Intimidation: Recently we have seen steps towards voter intimidation.
  • Blocked Voters: People who have served their time must have their voting rights restored. They must be treated with dignity if they are expected to return to society.

Updated on 12/2/18 for formatting and clarity
Updated on 3/22/21 to expand content
Updated on 12/26/21 to reorganize and expand content