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Editor's Note: The pieces below feature two sides to the debate on term limits from John Aldrich, Spencer Reynolds, and Laura Del Savio. These perspectives originally published on Divided We Fall and have been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. Will a Multi-Party System Save American Democracy? Very Unlikely. But Can a Centrist Party? By John Aldrich – Pfizer-Pratt University Professor of Political Science, Duke University American democracy is in crisis. From our governm

A third of Maine’s electorate will have an opportunity for meaningful participation in taxpayer-funded elections. Governor Janet Mills allowed a bill to go into law Monday that creates a semi-open primary system that gives independent voters a say in the state's primaries. “When we encourage and allow more voters to participate in our elections, we all benefit,” said state Senator Chloe Maxmin (D-Lincoln), who sponsored the legislation. “Voters have been asking for semi-open primaries for years

Michael Maxsenti, co-host of the podcast Front and Center with Steve and Michael and an advisor to the new Common Sense Party of California, joins host T.J. O’Hara on Deconstructed to talk about the podcast and the novel new party that is trying to shake things up in California. Mr. Maxsenti is a political activist who has been at the forefront of a number of initiatives designed to overcome the political divide. Along with his political interests, he also brings a strong business perspective ha

In most of the country independent voters, despite their growing numbers, are marginalized by closed partisan primary systems in which the winners are virtually pre-determined in low turnout primaries -- before independent voters can weigh in. Not so in California, where a decade-old non-partisan primary system lets all voters, including independents, vote in an open primary that advances the top two vote getters to the General Election, regardless of party. Although California’s nonpartisan s

Editor's Note: The pieces below feature two sides to the debate on term limits from Jonathan Simpson and Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson. These perspectives originally published on Divided We Fall and have been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. ‍ Term Limits: Not a Panacea, but Close Enough By Jonathan Simpson – Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Americans for Congressional Term Limits Americans’ dissatisfaction with their government is no secret. While opinions of presidentia

For a long time, pollsters, political pundits, candidates, and the media have ignored the rise of independent voters. They have called independents “closet partisans” or “leaners,” and they justify this by how the media twists the narrative. Gallup has consistently found that around 4-in-10 Americans self-identify as independent. However, instead of asking why these voters choose not to identify with a political party, pollsters then ask, “Well, which of the two major parties do you lean more t

Andy Moore, Executive Director of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers (NANR), joins host T. J. O’Hara on Deconstructed to discuss that organization’s progress toward attaining nonpartisan reform. Mr. Moore serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence with Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma, and he is also the founder of Let’s Fix This, which is focused upon building civic engagement and power for political reform. Given Mr. Moore’s diverse educational background (BS

Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Ph.D., joins T.J. O’Hara, host of Deconstructed, to discuss the structural challenges of the Constitution that have contributed to the growing political stalemate in our Nation’s capital. Dr. Sheehan Zaino is a Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Iona College and a regular contributor to Bloomberg Television and Radio. She is also the author of several books, including her latest, American Democracy in Crisis: The Case for Rethinking Madisonian Gover

Independent voters are having a moment. The pro-voter reform movement is having a moment. And, the nonpartisan group Independent Voting is hosting a virtual event to celebrate this moment. On October 25, at 6 PM EDT, the nonpartisan group Independent Voting is hosting the 20th Annual Anti-Corruption Awards via Zoom. In the past, the event honored public and civil service leaders who challenged the political status quo in New York City. However, this year, the group is expanding the awards to a

The mood among Democrats these days seems to oscillate between panic and despair. The Biden administration, which billed itself as restoring competence and order to the political process, not only grievously botched the Afghanistan withdrawal and the removal of Haitian immigrants in Texas, but cannot even attain a semblance of order within its own party. Whether it be the filibuster, government spending, or tax policy, Democrats seem afflicted with an auto-immune disease that requires them to at