National Civic Review

How to Minimize Money’s Role in Politics

Articles — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 18:45:00 -0400

One of the most discussed political reforms over the last 30 years has been campaign finance reform. That reform effort blames much of what ails our representative democracy on the pernicious effect of private money in politics. In the 1990s, tales of the Keating Five, Lincoln Bedroom, and Buddhist temples became the stuff of political legend. More recently, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was accused of campaign and money laundering violations and lobbyist Jack Abramoff pled guilty to influence peddling and bribery of various Congressional members. The 2004 presidential candidates broke new records by spending $1.7 billion, nearly twice the… more

Divided We Stand: The Polarizing of American Politics

Articles — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 03:00:00 -0500

A recent Zogby poll found that 70 percent of Americans believe both the Democrat and Republican parties should be broad-based and pursue compromise rather than polarization. That same poll found that a solid majority believes the two parties are too focused on their respective base voters and that, as a result, compromise has become impossible in Washington, DC. Looking at recent partisan battles over Social Security, presidential appointments, Terry Schiavo, the culture war, the Iraq war and more, one can understand why so many Americans hold these views. There appears to be no end in sight to this… more

Setting a New Goalpost: 100 Percent Voter Registration

Articles — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 03:00:00 -0500

Our country's strength flows from its willingness to innovate and improve upon the American experiment in democracy. Recent presidential elections underscore the importance of revamping the way we register citizens to vote.

Currently, there are two widespread failures. First, our voter rolls are not clean and lead to uncertainty about voter fraud, such as people voting in two states and some places like Alaska having more registered voters than adults. Second, our voter rolls are not complete, with nearly a third of eligible voters--about 60 million Americans--not registered to vote. It's time to establish clean and complete voter… more

Solving a Classic Dilemma of Democratic Politics

Articles — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0500

This article is adapted from the last chapter of the author's book Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick: How Local TV Broadcasters Exert Political Power (New York: iUniverse, 2005).

The founders of the United States were deeply concerned about the corrupting influence of power. They understood that, given the chance, elected officials would seek to preserve and enhance their power, even at the expense of democratic institutions. Accordingly, they designed a government based on separation of powers, where "ambition" would "counteract ambition." This entailed an elected president with veto power over legislation, an independent court with the ability to declare legislation… more

Alleviating the Problem of Rational Voter Ignorance: A Proposal for a "Ballot Portal"

Articles — Sat, 01 May 2004 00:00:00 -0400

Political scientists have long observed that what is good for the individual may be bad for the group. Under a ruthless dictatorship, for example, the people might want to overthrow their leaders and establish a democratic government. But it is very risky for any particular individual to participate in such an uprising. The individual bears all the costs, but the public at large receives the lion's share of the benefits. Economists call such goods "public goods." National Defense is a classic example. It is impractical to exclude any individual from the benefits of national… more

Should the Public Meeting Enter the Information Age?

Articles — Sat, 01 Nov 2003 00:00:00 -0500

Unity and Community in the Twenty-First Century

Articles — Sat, 01 Jun 2002 00:00:00 -0400

"Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of disposition, are forever forming associations," the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville observed in his famous 1835 tract, Democracy in America. "There are not only commercial and industrial associations in which all take part, but others of a thousand different types -- religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and very limited, immensely large and very minute