Democracy

Here are some things to consider doing. Some items may not be applicable to you.

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To help restore some sanity to politics:

• Encourage your elected officials and candidates to support:
  • Campaign finance reform, probably including public financing of campaigns, limitations on fundraising by candidates and limitations on advertising by candidates
  • Numerous debates which are broadcast
  • Instant runoff voting (as known as rank or ranked order balloting or voting) – so that if there are more than two candidates, voters can vote for their first, second, third, etc. choices – if no candidate gets over 50% of the votes, the 2nd choice of those who voted for the last place candidate get counted and so on until a candidate gets over 50% – this prevents a candidate from drawing votes away from a candidate with similar positions which could result in the winner being a candidate whose positions are supported by a minority of voters – this helps candidates from smaller political parties because votes would be more likely to vote for them knowing they wouldn’t be throwing their vote away – also, it avoids the need for special runoff elections which saves money, time and effort
  • Term limits for some offices
  • Overturning Citizens United
  • Non-partisan groups determining redistricting of congressional districts
  • Banning political ads on television, radio, etc.
  • Abolishing the Electoral College – info at NationalPopularVote.com
• Before you get involved in politics:
  • Do some research on the issues you care about from a variety of reliable sources
  • Listen to the arguments put forward by people with opinions different from yours and consider the possibility that they might be right
  • Don’t assume that someone with a different opinion is a bad person
  • Try to understand why people have opinions that are different from yours
  • Offer to calmly explain to people with different views why you see things differently
  • Recognize that some people who express extreme opinions are mostly trying to attract attention
  • Recognize that generally the people with the most extreme opinions get most of the attention and that in most cases the vast majority of people have moderate opinions but don’t express those opinions very much
  • Recognize that we’re all in this together and it makes sense to work together to come up with solutions which satisfy most people
  • Recognize that the political process often favors those with extreme opinions, e.g., in primary elections, because voters who support the most extreme positions tend to be the most likely to vote
• After you have learned about the issues and the candidates:
  • Talk to your family, friends, neighbors, etc. about the issues and candidates to get their perspectives
  • Consider running for elected office – even if you don’t have a good chance of winning, just running can give you a powerful platform to advocate for issues you care about
  • Consider volunteering for a campaign
  • Consider writing a letter to the editor of your community’s newspaper(s)
  • Consider taking actions suggested at WomensMarch.org
  • Register to vote before the deadline

• Check the voting info at:
  • Vote411.org – by the League of Women Voters
  • VoteSmart.org – by Project Vote Smart (they say that they take no money from special interest groups and have committed themselves to an extraordinary effort to provide their fellow citizens with the tools for a reemergence of political power not known for half a century)
  • OurTime.org – for young Americans (they say that they are “pro-generational,” that they carefully consider the majority views of the young generation and that they do their best to represent those positions without shilling for political parties)
  • MyMove.com – for first-time voters
• Vote

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EXPLORE: People