There is widespread belief that our political system is broken.
There is also widespread belief that nothing can be done about it.
That notwithstanding, there are burgeoning efforts around the country seeking to bring about change. Various approaches are being undertaken directed at local, state and Federal levels of government. A very useful informational website about the efforts is Reclaim The American Dream.
Trying to fix it through Congress
MAYDAY.US is the organization that has taken the lead for trying for reform through Congress.
MAYDAY was started in 2014 by Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig. Its stated goal was to obtain a reform minded Congress by 2016. Professor Lessig acknowledged this was a "moonshot."
MAYDAY initially raised about ten million dollars in 2014, which MAYDAY spent on a small number of test Congressional races in 2014 to find out what it could accomplish. The results were not very propitious.
Looking towards 2016, it is important to understand the great difficulty in what MAYDAY is trying to achieve.
MAYDAY has on its website front page this quotation:
"The mortal struggle at hand today is not between the right and the left. It is not between Republicans and Democrats. It is not between the Congress and the president. It is between us (currently outsiders to our own government) voters and the Washington Insiders."
This mortal struggle diagnosis would seem to call for great mobilization and unity of voters to elect Congressional candidates who will take action on behalf of reform.
There is a big problem here for MAYDAY.
Voters have differing views on important issues, such as climate change, immigration, and privacy versus security in fighting terrorism and crime. If a Congressional candidate takes positions on other important issues, many voters may not support the candidate on that basis, and this undermines the needed unity in the struggle of voter outsiders against Washington insiders.
At the same time, a Congressional candidate who takes the position that Congress must be fixed first, that voter unity on that must not be undermined, and for that reason the candidate declines to take positions on other issues, in all likelihood, will attract little or no voter support.
The foregoing conundrum may have been a contributing factor in Lawrence Lessig's decision to leave MAYDAY and undertake a "Hail Mary" run for President utilizing his idea of a trustee President whose only purpose was to get reform passed by Congress. Professor Lessig denominated this a "referendum Presidential candidacy."
That Presidential candidacy has foundered.
The conundrum continues, however, for MAYDAY at the Congressional level.
Professor Lessig could not run a single issue Presidential campaign, and very likely no Congressional candidate can run a viable single issue Congressional campaign.
If unity of voters is critically important in order to force the passage of reform by Congress, and if Congressional candidates cannot run single issue candidacies, and if that can cause the reform issue to get lost in the mix in the 2016 elections, how might the conundrum be resolved?
Here is the idea of this effort for avoiding the problem, to wit, force the current Congress to take action about reform before the 2016 elections, under the threat that the 2016 elections will be a referendum on how Congress, and individual Representatives and Senators, do in taking action to pass reform.
This would require massive citizen mobilization for such a threat to become credible. Incumbent Representatives and incumbent Senators would need to be put on notice by their constituents that they risk being voted out of office if they don't act to pass reform before the 2016 elections, or if they pass reform and the reform that is passed is judged by voters not to be adequate.
While there is widespread belief that Congress is "broken", there are numerous different things that might be done to try to "fix" Congress, and there will be differing ideas about what should be tried. These would be legitimately subjects of debate.
Indeed, that is exactly what should happen. Both Republican and Democratic incumbents in Congress should be forced to take a position about whether or not they think Congress is "broken."
They can take a position that they don't think Congress is "broken" and their constituents can decide whether the constituents agree or not.
Alternatively, an incumbent in Congress who says that Congress is "broken" can propose what he or she thinks should be done to try to "fix" the broken Congress.
There is a big problem here for MAYDAY.
Voters have differing views on important issues, such as climate change, immigration, and privacy versus security in fighting terrorism and crime. If a Congressional candidate takes positions on other important issues, many voters may not support the candidate on that basis, and this undermines the needed unity in the struggle of voter outsiders against Washington insiders.
At the same time, a Congressional candidate who takes the position that Congress must be fixed first, that voter unity on that must not be undermined, and for that reason the candidate declines to take positions on other issues, in all likelihood, will attract little or no voter support.
The foregoing conundrum may have been a contributing factor in Lawrence Lessig's decision to leave MAYDAY and undertake a "Hail Mary" run for President utilizing his idea of a trustee President whose only purpose was to get reform passed by Congress. Professor Lessig denominated this a "referendum Presidential candidacy."
That Presidential candidacy has foundered.
The conundrum continues, however, for MAYDAY at the Congressional level.
Professor Lessig could not run a single issue Presidential campaign, and very likely no Congressional candidate can run a viable single issue Congressional campaign.
If unity of voters is critically important in order to force the passage of reform by Congress, and if Congressional candidates cannot run single issue candidacies, and if that can cause the reform issue to get lost in the mix in the 2016 elections, how might the conundrum be resolved?
Here is the idea of this effort for avoiding the problem, to wit, force the current Congress to take action about reform before the 2016 elections, under the threat that the 2016 elections will be a referendum on how Congress, and individual Representatives and Senators, do in taking action to pass reform.
This would require massive citizen mobilization for such a threat to become credible. Incumbent Representatives and incumbent Senators would need to be put on notice by their constituents that they risk being voted out of office if they don't act to pass reform before the 2016 elections, or if they pass reform and the reform that is passed is judged by voters not to be adequate.
While there is widespread belief that Congress is "broken", there are numerous different things that might be done to try to "fix" Congress, and there will be differing ideas about what should be tried. These would be legitimately subjects of debate.
Indeed, that is exactly what should happen. Both Republican and Democratic incumbents in Congress should be forced to take a position about whether or not they think Congress is "broken."
They can take a position that they don't think Congress is "broken" and their constituents can decide whether the constituents agree or not.
Alternatively, an incumbent in Congress who says that Congress is "broken" can propose what he or she thinks should be done to try to "fix" the broken Congress.
Congressional debate should then ensue.
This debate would be subject to an overhanging threat that Congress must debate the subject and agree, or not agree, on something, and that something will be the subject of the 2016 elections referendum.
Voters can vote in favor of their incumbent if they think Congress has done a credible job in what Congress has proposed (or not proposed), or against their incumbent if voters are dissatisfied with what Congress has proposed (or not proposed).
Under this approach, MAYDAY need not be involved with supporting particular Congressional candidates because of their position on reform but can dedicate itself exclusively to mobilizing citizenry to demand that all Congressional candidates publicly declare that the issue needs to be addressed and resolved by Congress prior to November 8, 2016, subject to the voters ultimately deciding about the matter on November 8, 2016.
It would seem that any Congressional candidate who will not make the declaration can expect to lose support in their campaign, and a Congressional candidate who makes the declaration should not lose support from making the declaration. This dynamic should allow for great public awareness of the issue, and that gives the Declaration idea plausible efficacy.
The Presidential race demonstrates that the time is right
The mind boggling turmoil in the Presidential race, and the candidacies of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, make manifest widespread citizen resentment, disgust, and anger regarding Washington DC and Congress. Activists for reform should endeavor to use that to appeal across the political spectrum for citizen mobilization to force Congress to face up to its brokenness before November 8, 2016. The candidates' Declaration idea set out in this blog seems well worth dedicating efforts to.
For a wording of the candidate declaration, see 2016 Congressional candidates Declaration.
If you are persuaded about the rationale for this effort, please consider the Tactics being employed and also this updated Progress report.
It would seem that any Congressional candidate who will not make the declaration can expect to lose support in their campaign, and a Congressional candidate who makes the declaration should not lose support from making the declaration. This dynamic should allow for great public awareness of the issue, and that gives the Declaration idea plausible efficacy.
The Presidential race demonstrates that the time is right
The mind boggling turmoil in the Presidential race, and the candidacies of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, make manifest widespread citizen resentment, disgust, and anger regarding Washington DC and Congress. Activists for reform should endeavor to use that to appeal across the political spectrum for citizen mobilization to force Congress to face up to its brokenness before November 8, 2016. The candidates' Declaration idea set out in this blog seems well worth dedicating efforts to.
For a wording of the candidate declaration, see 2016 Congressional candidates Declaration.
If you are persuaded about the rationale for this effort, please consider the Tactics being employed and also this updated Progress report.
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