National Reforms to Democracy

National Reforms to Democracy

Sometimes the letter of the law can be used to undermine its spirit of intent. There is no perfect system. Our representative system was designed with certain flaws and was meant to be improved over time. We have made amendments and rule changes. Now, more changes are needed, but little gets done due to political resistance.

Here are some changes that we think are urgent:

Supreme Court Changes

  • Institute term limits instead of lifetime appointments
  • Expand the number of judges
  • Remove partisan bias from the selection process
  • Brian Klaas – article or book

Filibuster Changes

The filibuster in its current form is used to suppress debate and compromise. Almost nothing gets done in the Senate due to its use. The filibuster is not part of our constitution and has changed many times. Now, it is more obstructive than ever.

People have suggested that we need even more reforms, but these may be too difficult to really work on at this time:

  • Making District of Columbia and Puerto Rico States.
  • Rebalancing the Senate as small states have a disproportionate amount of power.
  • Moving from electoral college elections for president to popular vote elections.

Resources

  • Ballotpedia article on National Popular Vote   
  • Adam Jentleson on Sorry Not Sorry podcast episode on the Filibuster
  • Fix Our senate   – informative webpage 
  • Norm Ornstein on Diane Rehm Show podcast episode on Democracy Reform
  • Diane Rehm Show Podcast episode on the systemic issues of our Democracy and how the Senate is anti-democratic now and becoming more so.
  • Another Way podcast episode with Eli Zupnick on Filibuster Reform

Partners