Citizens Assembly

Under our winner-take-all electoral system, 49.9 percent of voters can be left without a voice in government when their candidate loses. Proportional Representation, on the other hand, awards seats in government based on the percentage of votes received by each party.  Proportional Representation guarantees that every vote counts and it increases voter participation while producing legislatures that better reflect the breadth of political opinion.

Steven Hill is a political writer and director of the Political Reform Program at the New America Foundation, which seeks to develop the best opportunities for reform, educate opinion leaders and the public about electoral alternatives, and encourage the formation of a broad-based coalition.

A year ago in January, Gov. Schwarzenegger declared 2005 "The Year of Reform," kicking off a contentious special election that ended with voters rejecting all of his proposed measures.

California's representative democracy is broken, and serious electoral reforms are needed. The best solution is reforming our electoral process to improve our chances of electing leaders who understand our problems and are committed to solving them.

We suggest convening a Citizens Assembly of randomly selected citizens who care about their government… more

This event is co-sponsored with the California Research Bureau.

Voters want change, despite the failure of last November's reform ballot measures. Political analysts have recommended a number of reforms, from redistricting, revised term limits, and open primaries to alternative election systems and the public financing of campaigns. But how do we change a system when powerful interests defend the status quo?

A model solution lies across the border in Canada. Called a Citizens Assembly, its strength lies in restoring power to… more

This event is co-sponsored with The Commonwealth Club of California.

Voters want change, despite the failure of last November's reform ballot measures. Political analysts have recommended a number of reforms, from redistricting, revised term limits, and open primaries to alternative election systems and the public financing of campaigns. But how do we change a system when powerful interests defend the status quo?

A model solution lies across the border in Canada. Called a Citizens' Assembly, its strength lies in restoring… more

This event is co-sponsored with University of Southern California Bedrosian Center on Governance

Voters want change, despite the failure of last November's reform ballot measures. Political analysts have recommended a number of reforms, from redistricting, revised term limits, and open primaries to alternative election systems and the public financing of campaigns. But how do we change a system when powerful interests defend the status quo?

A model solution lies across the border in Canada. Called a Citizens Assembly, its strength lies… more

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… more

Despite voters rejecting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempts to end-run the Legislature, that does not mean voters don't want change. California's political leaders must try to pick up the pieces of what is left of state politics. The challenges are daunting, particularly because both the governor and Legislature have lost so much credibility.

The question is: How do we move forward? One of the solutions may lie across the border in Canada. It's called a Citizens' Assembly, and it was on… more

Elected officials have an intrinsic conflict of interest when considering reforms that might reduce their chances of re-election. One proposed solution to this dilemma is to take democratic reform out of the hands of elected officials and put it in the hands of a randomly selected body of citizens. The premier of British Columbia recently implemented such a reform. With the legislature's blessing, he created a "Citizens Assembly" of 160 randomly selected individuals ("The Citizens Assembly on… more