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The experiment to save American democracy is happening, right now. And if you’re an American desperate to see a solution to the corrupt status quo, you should be paying attention. In late 2015, the people of Seattle voted to free their political system from the corrupting influence of big money. Through a ballot measure, they created Democracy Vouchers, a simple yet revolutionary system where each Seattle voter can give up to four $25 vouchers to candidates running for city office. The catch?

Eighteen attorneys general were anticipating this day in court. The day they believed a judge would strike down the Trump administration's order denying payment of Obamacare subsidies. The payments from the federal government had kept health care costs down and affordable for low-income families. However, the US District Court Judge ruled in favor of the Trump administration, paving the way for skyrocketing Obamacare premiums next year. Judge Vince Chhabria Judge Vince Chhabria of the US Dist

As we do each election cycle, FairVote has projected the partisan results of the next elections to the U.S. House of Representatives, and the results show a shocking lack of competition or fair representation. Since our first edition in 1997, we have called this biennial report Monopoly Politics - with good reason. Take a look at Monopoly Politics 2018, a fascinating companion report simulating the Fair Representation Act in all 50 states, and our interactive spreadsheet tool. FairVote’s metho

Washington is a mess. Our politics doesn’t work. Politicians are pointing at the voters as the problem -- that somehow we’ve become less civil, more polarized and less able to come together across partisan divisions. But we know that’s not the case. Millions of Americans are now attuned to the ways that partisan gerrymandering and closed primaries exacerbate partisanship and gridlock, and allow Congress to get away with not doing their jobs. Roughly 95% of congressional races were determined

The electoral earthquake that resulted in the election of President Trump is not limited to the United States. And it’s far from running its course. The Brexit referendum of June 2016 was an early indicator. Against general expectation, the British people overrode elite opinion, voting to exit the European Union. In 2017, Emmanuel Macron seized the presidency of France. He established a new political party of the center-left, muscling aside the longstanding, dominant political coalitions. In

Our political system is failing because our government has become little more than a perpetual banquet for selfish interests that feed themselves first, and worry about the health of the nation later, if at all (See part 1 in this series). This is the situation in which we now find ourselves, and it must be reversed. For "we the people" to fix the system, here is an uncontroversial, common sense, and unifying organizing principle: Remove from the American political system every incentive that

Speaking at the annual Air Force Association conference on September 20, Defense Secretary James Mattis engaged in the time-honored tradition of complaining about the defense budget. While many would say that with defense making up the largest expenditure in the federal budget there couldn’t possibly be a problem, Mattis may actually have been correct in his comments, according to the Congressional Budget Office. “If we don’t get budgetary predictability, if we don’t remove the defense caps, th

With the stroke of a pen, Governor Jerry Brown has reformed the power structure at the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). For many, including organized labor, it was a huge victory that now begins a massive change at the agency that's seen huge turmoil the last 12 months. WHAT IT MEANS FOR LABOR SANDAG will now be required to hire from state-approved groups for large construction projects, unless it signs union-friendly PLA's or project labor agreements. This was the crux of Meas

A woman I know sent me a note the other day. I was surprised, but happy to hear from her as we don’t know each other well. In the note, she explained that she had woken up last Monday morning to the news of the Las Vegas shootings. While preparing lunches for her boys to take to school, she wondered whether to tell them what had happened before they started their day. She decided to tell them — better to hear it from her than in the school hallways. Her note touched me, in part because she'd w

We, the People are wiser than warfare. Acting on that wisdom requires specific, coordinated action. Our choice as a nation and for our shared planet starkly confronts us with a future of eternal warfare or an age of peacebuilding. I approach the topic of conflict resolution as The Government Mechanic -- a strategic planner diving into complex problems to find the vision and strategies for a solution, the roadmap and timelines for change, enduring mechanisms of coordination, and the right measur