The US republic is no longer accountable to the American people, because the election process is littered with conflicts of interest, and power centralizing mechanisms.
Such as: Campaign finance bribery. Gerrymandering. Incumbency bias. Super delegates. First-past-the-post voting format. The electoral college. Absurd and costly ballot access laws. One of the highest population to representative ratio globally. The recent overturn of the voting rights act. Restrictive voter ID laws. Electronic voter fraud. Voter suppression, through things like registration disenfranchisement, and drops. Specifically, programs like crosscheck. Lack of polling locations, resulting in long lines. No election holiday. The debates, being controlled by two bias parties. Centralizing profit based media. Party corruption. Dark Super-PAC's funding propaganda machines. The revolving door of regulatory capture, allowing multinationals to effect regulations, while employees flip between being a lobbyist, regulator, or politician. The apathetic, misinformed, and escapist mindset of eligible voters, both a matter of personal accountability, and symptoms of how our polarizing elections are arranged. (This grows as people struggle economically, because they don't have the time or resources to get informed, while focusing on struggling). With all this it's no surprise our voter turnout has trouble breaking 60% nationally.
We're taxed, but not represented. Because the only thing that incentivizes accountability to the people, the election process, is compromised by wealthy elite. Like those that participate in influence peddling in both parties. These people are actively fighting for aristocracy, attacking democracy, and the constitutional right for tax payers to be represented by their government. The result of this favoritism has led to 40 years of growing economic inequality, which is systemically intertwined with every other noted issue, in our ecosystem of a society.
While wealth and power have been centralizing, the government is getting more authoritarian. This is exhibited by military spending, wars, growing prisons, spy agencies eroding civil liberties, and militarization of the police. All of these aspects, centralizing power and growing authoritarianism, are having severe effects on the quality of life, both here, and abroad. We have recently bombed 7 separate countries, and are the number 1 global weapons exporter.
To have a government accountable to the people supersedes every other issue. No policy will change in your favor without one. Not healthcare, not environment, not education, not military, not trade, until politicians are more incentivized to work for the people, than for corporate donors, and solely profit focused shareholders. That means 1 person 1 vote, equalizing financial influence of voters, competitive elections for politicians, and ease of participation for voters. That means election accountability. Groups at the tip of the spear for correcting these conflicts of interest, and power centralizing mechanisms, are:
The Anti-Corruption Act, a substantive and thorough Anti-corruption ballot initiative. The first state wide initiative was passed in South Dakota, but repealed through a "state of emergency", showing that it's obviously the right policy to implement to reclaim our government.
Ballotpedia, a resource for understanding ballot access laws on all levels, great for individuals looking to run for office themselves.
Countable, a group attempting to simplify bills, and the means of communicating with your representative.
League of Women Voters, they provide a range of support services, such as voter registration and candidate forums. A great group to volunteer for.
FairVote, CommonCause and Independentvoting.org, focus on structural voting reforms, like ranked choice voting, campaign finance reform, correcting gerrymandering etc... To make voting more accessible to everyone.
Wolf PAC, and ArticleV.org, these two groups are closest to having enough states signed up for a constitutional convention. They are predominantly focused on campaign finance reform.
The Free and Equal Elections Foundation, which ran a third party debate last election, creating a platform for alternative narratives, and presidential candidates.
Democracy Spring, which is focused on civil disobedience and applying pressure to congress, specifically on issues like campaign funding and voting rights.
Brand New Congress, which takes a unified attempt at replacing established congress members with those that accept a more progressive, publicly funded agenda.
And, Represent.Us, which focuses on getting anti-corruption laws on ballots for the people to vote into law, bypassing congress all together.
Supporting “Rootstrikers” like these groups, candidates who aren't beholden to corporate/centralized donations, and media that reports for more public sponsors instead of commercial. While also getting others to understand this societal issue of election accountability, out voting, and personally participating in the political process. These are the actions needed for actual revolution, and improvement of our society. Increased personal involvement, and investment into accountable political outlets. So get informed, and participate.
It can only be done by the people. It can only be done by you. Remember, no one rules alone. Thus no one can serve you without your involvement, input, and support. Even if there isn’t anyone you wish to support, your very involvement gives you political power, and holds politicians more accountable to your demographics. Not participating is just giving your power away to those who are already trying to take it. There isn't another path. You must actively participate in your society politically, or you will lose your society to special interest and corruption.
