We have a President hostile to fixing the system and a Congress currently controlled by reform opponents. However, history makes clear that reform issues are cyclical in nature: the kind of scandalous system that exists today has led to major reforms in the past, and can do so again in the future.
The Huffington Post The Battle to Preserve the Constitution By: Fred Wertheimer April 13, 2017 A battle over efforts to call a constitutional convention is currently taking place throughout the country. Occurring below the national radar screen, the fight has enormous consequences. Proponents are attempting to pass resolutions in 34 state legislatures that call for […]
In a letter sent today to members of the House Administration Committee, a group of 43 organizations and individuals with expertise in governance issues strongly opposed bills being considered tomorrow by the committee to terminate the Presidential Election Campaign Fund and the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). (See below for a full list of the signers of […]
The following statement is being issued today by the Brennan Center for Justice, Common Cause, CREW, Democracy 21, Democracy Matters, Every Voice, People For the American Way, Public Citizen, Rootstrikers project at Demand Progress, U.S. PIRG and Voices for Progress. Our organizations applaud House Democrats for the comprehensive reform package they offered today to fix our […]
Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer on June 28, 2016 published by piece in SCOTUS Blog entitled “McDonnell decision substantially weakens the government’s ability to prevent corruption and protect citizens.” In the piece, Fred Wertheimer says, “The Court has substantially weakened the legal protections that currently exist against government corruption.” The piece concludes: “The American people are […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Democracy 21 is very disappointed in today’s Supreme Court decision in the McDonnell case, which greatly undermines the interests of the American people in honest and fair public officials. The Supreme Court decision belies reality. If you show the facts in the case to any citizen, the […]
The American people overwhelmingly want their elections to be of, by and for the people. They want everyone’s voice to have a chance to be heard in Washington, D.C. They want the barriers reduced that prevent qualified people from running for and serving in public office. In short, they object to today’s big money campaign […]
It goes without saying that our campaign finance system is completely broken. We haven’t seen this kind of big money flooding into our political system since the Robber Baron era. According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics: – The top ten donors and their spouses have given more than $100 million; – Eighty-nine […]
Statement by the Brennan Center, Center for Media and Democracy, Common Cause, CREW, Democracy 21 and People For the American Way Efforts are being undertaken in state legislatures to pass resolutions calling for a constitutional convention to send various constitutional amendments to the states for ratification. If these efforts are successful, it would result in […]
By: Fred Wertheimer Published by: Huffington Post America today has dueling campaign finance systems for federal elections. One system, in existence for more than 40 years, provides contribution limits and disclosure requirements for federal candidates and political parties spending money in federal elections. This system was enacted by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court […]
Today, Democracy 21 joined with eleven other reform groups in releasing “Fighting Big Money, Empowering People: A 21st Century Democracy Agenda.” The Agenda sets forth a comprehensive policy agenda developed by the groups to advance reforms that are vital to addressing fundamental problems in our political system. The Agenda is based on the concept that the […]
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