It's crazy to think we can fix our democracy!
PeopleCount has a plan to fix our democracy, beginning with Congress!
Yes, it's crazy to think we can fix our democracy, given what
everyone knows about politics. But what if there are small flaws
in what we know that can be leveraged to easily change it all?
There's a single root cause for almost all of America's
political problems, and it can be fixed. That won't fix
all the problems, but it will do a lot. It will do enough
so that we can ensure we fix the rest.
This root cause also makes political parties necessary,
and gives them power.
There's a gross inefficiency that gives money power,
and incumbents a huge advantage.
There were at least 5 major flaws in the Constitution that
led to problems. Because the Constitution is sacred and the
problems grew very slowly, no one sees that the cause was
in America's foundation. Yet no new legislation is needed
to fix it.
Please suspend your disbelief while you read this.
It was crazy to think that slavery would ever be abolished.
It was crazy to think someone in California could talk with
someone in Maine.
It was crazy to think that humans could fly, let alone go to the moon.
We are human. Much more is possible than we know.
Politics is all about people communicating. And now we have the web.
Our current state: Lots of problems!
Currently , politics is often divisive, disrespectful, dishonest, and undemocratic.
Money has huge influence. The two parties have a tight hold on power
and their top priorities are to hold onto power and raise more money.
It's no one's fault. It's just the way the political system has evolved.
Every major aspect of politics is broken. For each problem area, one or
more special-interest organization has been dedicated to fixing it
with new laws. Such legislation is almost never passed.
A few were passed, but had little or no effect.
Campaign finance limits and voting rights assurances were undone by legislate-from-the-bench courts.
Congress is too broken to pass legislation to override the courts,
or to fix the other problems.
Many have tried to improve politics, with little success. Why? Because they're
trying to bandage a symptom. The real problem is deeper.
When a system has many severe problems, the real cause is often deeper.
The main problem in politics: Poor representation...
The biggest problem in America's political system is poor representation.
A bill has no more chance of passing if most voters want it to pass.
Lots of issues supported by 80% or more of voters never become law,
including issues about ending corruption and conflicts of interest.
One organization has found over a hundred issues that solid majorities
of informed voters wanted action on that haven't been acted on.
Our representation is lousy.
There are many other problems in politics.
Poor representation is by far the most important one.
Elections, voting, parties, candidates- the only
reason for these is to create good representation.
They fail.
Note that representative democracy only works
reliably if representatives are accountable to voters.
To be accountable to voters requires politicians to not be
accountable to anyone else,
not to a party, not to wealthy donors.
There are many superficial problems in politics. Each one has causes.
Often the causes have other causes, or the causes are problems themselves.
If we trace all the causes, we find that several are key, the power of money,
the incumbent advantage, the 2-party monopoly, voter apathy and ignorance.
And yet, would anyone care about these if Congress worked well in
representing voters?
The causes of the problems: A tangled mess...
The biggest problem in America's political system is poor representation.
If we look at a graph of all of the problems and their causes,
it would look like a tangled mess. Most of them feed each other.
There is key cause that stands out, outside the mess.
It's very expensive for a candidate to reach voters.
The cost is high because the way it's done is very inefficient.
Every candidate must try to reach voters.
(What's much more efficient? A marketplace.)
I repeat: Representative democracy only works reliably if
representatives are accountable to voters.
(Accountable to voters means not accountable to a party or wealthy donors.)
The root cause in politics: Lack of accountability...
Politicians are not accountable to voters.
Elections deliver only a tiny bit of accountability once every 2-6 years.
The media brings another tiny bit.
Currently, it's impossible for members of Congress or the president
to be truly accountable to voters. Most have stopped trying.
Some try to be accountable in attitude,
replying to calls and email, answering questions in town halls and speeches.
Trying is great, but this little bit of voluntary accountability
at the times and on the issues that suit them is not enough.
True accountabilty is a relationship .
It's not just "accountability",
it's accountability to someone (voters),
for something (legislation creating the country and future we desire.)
Relationships are made up of communication.
What communication does accountability require?
Accountability is the essence of the worker/manager relationship.
The manager sets the goals and arranges for regular reports from the worker.
The reports about accomplishments, progress and plans allow the
manager to stay informed on how well the worker is performing,
and is most of what the manager gives feedback on.
For the worker, the day-to-day motivation to do their job comes
from the boss' feedback.
Accountability to a large number of voters is more complex,
because voters need to work together to be the manager.
To do this, they also need communication with each other.
We simply don't have the communication channels to support this relationship.
But now, with the internet, these can be created.
The solution: A political communication platform...
PeopleCount
defines accountability rigorously for politics and proposes
a real solution :
A political communication platform that will deliver true accountability.
Your representative and senators will be
accountable to you on the issues important to you, always.
Not just before an election, but continually, after they're elected.
Currently, voters can send a representative or senator a message or an email
about an issue.
If you receive an answer, there's nothing further you can do.
On the new platform, you'll not just vote your preferences on the issue,
you'll see how others voted. You'll know what The People want.
Plus, you'll be able to demand monthly reports on each issue,
both written and video..
When they come, or even if they don't come, you'll be able to grade them.
You'll push up, or pull down, your representative's grade on an issue,
and all voters will see those grades.
Challengers can report as well. They'll keep the incumbent honest,
and give you new answers, new ideas, new promises for a better future.
Over time, you'll get to know both the incumbent and the challengers
on the issues important to you, and to America. No longer will the
parties be able to hide issues from the public.
Voters vote on issues
Voters and politicians see the results
Politicians submit monthly reports on each issue
Voters grade the reports and see politicians average grades.
Communicating with you on this new platform,
candidates will need very little money to run their campaigns,
vastly lessening the power of money in elections and government.
Getting their power from you, from voters,
they'll be able to be much more independent of parties,
incumbents, and populists.
Much more than a "new idea"...
PeopleCount is carefully designed based on extensive research and analysis.
Voters will find it rewarding to design our future with your fellow
citizens while holding politicians accountable.
Both incumbents and challengers truly interested in serving constituents
will also find it rewarding.
As it's adopted, candidates will happily use it to deliver accountability
while running much more effective campaigns at a much-lower cost.
They'll reach many more voters with much richer communication.
This relationship of accountability will continue even after elections.
PeopleCount offers a new way forward.
This has never been done before.
Many have had ideas ,
but they didn't design their sites to actually solve the fundamental problem
in our political system.
A few mentioned accountability, but none defined it, much less delivered it.
The first year...
As soon as PeopleCount launches, we have a great plan to
get millions of users and grow to tens of millions quickly.
In the first year after launching, expect to see the power of
money and partisan division begin to lessen.
Expect seeing new, less-partisan challengers run effective campaigns.
And expect them to report to you on the issues important to you .
Plus, expect legislation to pass, legislation that
most Americans desire that has been ignored.
Some of these issues, such as eliminating Congressional corruption,
has been ignored for decades.
It'll just require a few minutes of your time each month
to help design our future and hold our officials accountable for creating it.
This platform won't solve everything right away. But it'll vastly improve
politics so that we can hold Congress accountable for solving the rest.
For instance, PeopleCount won't eliminate disinformation or propaganda.
But it'll ensure that voters hear multiple views.
And legislation to lessen disinformation is possible, without lessening free speech.
Currently, like a lot of issues that Americans agree on, Congress doesn't want to consider it.
Nonpartisan, Private, Secure, For society's benefit...
Promise: PeopleCount will never sell your personal data.
We hate being interrupted by ads as much as you do.
One challenger, not willing to put real thought into how PeopleCount will
work, said he'd consider it if we integrate with the tools he currently
uses to email voters. No way. We want a future where we, the voters,
keep control over our data, our own inboxes, our own phones.
Promise: PeopleCount will never show you ads. Every politician will
be able to submit some links so you can easily find them and their ads.
In future versions, we might do this for causes, too. But you'll always
be able to participate in politics on PeopleCount without ever seeing ads.
Promise: PeopleCount's purpose is to fix politics, not to make a profit.
We're not yet organized as a non-profit, and we're not yet funded,
but our purpose is clear. Our purpose is to make democracy work.
We need funding to hire people
(and you're welcome to donate ).
Promise: PeopleCount will work hard to keep your data secure.
We are only doing this to ensure we can all work together to
create a great future. Right now, the future of both America and
the planet are in doubt, and things have recently gotten worse.
Fixing democracy is vital. Partly, success is only possible if you
trust us. And partly, we're deeply committed to ethics.
Promise: PeopleCount will be non-partisan. While each of us has
preferred positions on issues, PeopleCount will not take a side.
We do this not just by noting and setting aside our bias.
PeopleCount's design has a structure that avoids partisanship.
And as we can afford to, we'll add methods and processes that
check and double-check there's no bias.
I'll say more about this. Being non-partisan is much more
important than my preferences. Partly, it's important that PeopleCount
live up to our promises and the trust you give us. Mostly, we're
much more likely to achieve a desirable future if we feel the
process had true integrity and fairness.
I care about America's and humanity's future.
But PeopleCount's purpose is to allow people to effectively
govern themselves. America is a constitutional, federated
democracy, with rules that allow us to change it in any way we want.
But to have that democracy be effective, we have to work together.
Currently, voters spend most of our efforts fighting and
demonizing each other while problems worsen.
To stop the fighting requires communication.
But not "free speech" - we already have that.
We need communication designed for working together peacefully.
That's what PeopleCount has designed and promises to deliver.
Current efforts...
We're working on
creating a social media following
building PeopleCount,
writing a book about PeopleCount (70% is written).
Dec, 2022: We've launched a social-media campaign.
When our following has grown we'll start a crowdfunding campaign.
Funding is needed to finish the alpha.
Work on the
book has paused.
To support PeopleCount: .
mailing list .
generous donation .
The book's purpose is to
Inform people about our new analysis of politics, including what
accountability really is, and the details of what's now possible.
Describe how we can have a political system where we no longer fight each other.
A system where money no longer determines elections and corrupts Congress.
Direct people to join the mailing list and donate.
Get the ideas some press, so America stops thinking that fixing politics
can only be done by fighting harder to beat "the other side."
Get PeopleCount some press, so more hear about it and sign up.
You're welcome to share this.
You have my promise: This is not for profit.
This is not for any partisan purpose. Personal information
and preferences will never be sold or shared with others.
The purpose of PeopleCount is to enable democracy to work well,
beginning with America's democracy,
so we can create the future and the country of our dreams.
Read more on our blog.
Please email me about
any mistakes or confusion on the site, or with feedback.
If there's a mistake, please include the web address of the page.
Please state explicitly whether you want a reply.