Democracy as a verb!
Democracy should be a Verb and not a Noun – When thinking of democracy, it has to be a means for the electorate to express and invoke their Will, rather than a contest of media manipulation to capture power by the ambitious.
The goal of Rebuild Democracy is to build communications solutions that allow constituents to discuss relevant issues, with opposing views, without falling into bipolar shouting matches. Key to success is the exclusion of non-germane content or distraction mechanisms and the elevation of factual content and impartial expert analysis. Self managed discussion groups with moderators that do not condition the discussion are important.
From those discussions, the ability of constituents to vote on the consensus outcome would allow the Will of the People to be clearly communicated to representatives and elected leadership. Government response to the People’s input will then be used to grade performance of the elected officials response to constituent’s supporting election claims of performance.
As practiced today, voters rarely get to express their Will – they simply choose the least objectionable candidate to make choices for the following two, four, or six years, depending on the office. During the time between elections, the representatives are least influenced by their constituents, instead falling under the control of their party bosses, lobbyists with access to their offices, and their donors (lobbyists and high net worth individuals) willing to pony up checks for access at fundraisers.
What this does is condition representatives to be responsive to those who either give them the most money for their re-election campaign or those who represent the biggest threat to their re-election. People become less and less critical to respond to as money can, and does, buy elections. Money does this through media dis-information campaigns and judicious distribution of funds to established support organizations.
Constituents are conditioned to “Choose Sides”. In a bipartisan environment, the result is that there is no candidate that will express the will of the people when that Will is not bi-polar. Hot button issues are used to generate loyalty in minority issues at the cost of larger governmental challenges. In this way, economic benefits to wealth are joined with Abortion, Gun Rights, and Racism. In order for the Abortion, Gun, and Racist constituents want a voice for their issue, they must join with those seeking economic advantage from the government, even at the cost of their wealth, health, and freedoms.
Rebuild Democracy has a stated goal of halting the bipolar conduct of politics that is seen to be elitist, exclusionary, and destructive to the fabric of society. The goal is to enable and engage citizen participation in the political process in the United States. With engagement and equal representation, the promise of Democracy can be realized by all citizens.