Citizens Assembly

Governor Should Ask Average Citizens, Not Politicians, to Make Elections More Fair

Political Reform — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:31:00 -0500

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 12, 2006

Contact: Steven Hill (415-6655044) or David Lesher (916-448-3721)

The poll analysis, survey question and results are available below in PDF format.

SACRAMENTO, CA – As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls for more competition in elections, a survey commissioned by the New America Foundation finds that nearly three-quarters of California voters would like to see the governor and the Legislature create a citizen’s panel to explore ideas for making the state’s election process more fair and competitive.… more

New America Survey Shows Overwhelming Support for Citizens Assembly

Political Reform — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 10:51:00 -0500

Governor Should Ask Average Citizens, Not Politicians, to Make Elections More Fair

Political Reform — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 17:06:00 -0500

A statewide survey commissioned by the New America Foundation showed overwhelming support for the idea of a Citizens Assembly. Read the full press release (excerpt below):

Citizens Assembly

Political Reform — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 12:05:00 -0400

The Problem

A number of promising reforms have been proposed for making the California political system more representative and responsive— from independent redistricting, term limits, and open primaries to more modern electoral systems and public financing of campaigns—but all face the same obstacle: entrenched interests, including elected lawmakers, who benefit from the status quo.

One means of removing partisanship and incumbent protectionism from the political reform process is known as a Citizens Assembly, which convenes a body of average citizens empowered to formally propose electoral reforms that politicians have too strong a conflict of… more

10 Steps to Repair American Democracy

adminn — Mon, 01 May 2006 16:38:00 -0400

Choiceless elections. Suspicious voting equipment. Partisan election officials. Superficial political debate. Unresponsive government. Author Steven Hill says that American democracy has been working about as well as the levees around New Orleans. Yet most Americans don’t know what to do about it. Here, finally, is the plan -- 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy.

In his inspiring blueprint for renewing America, Hill makes a stirring call for national election standards, voting equipment overhaul, nonpartisan election officials, a voting day holiday, and other repairs. He takes it a step further, calling for the end of winner-take-all elections, direct election of… more

Steven Hill

Operations — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 21:16:00 -0400

Director, Political Reform Program

Steven Hill is Director of the Political Reform Program at the New America Foundation, which seeks to identify and develop the best opportunities for political and electoral reform, educate opinion leaders and the public about electoral alternatives, and encourage the formation of a broad-based coalition for reform. Mr. Hill is the former senior analyst and cofounder of the Center for Voting and Democracy/FairVote. He is author of the recently published Ten Steps to Repair American Democracy (PoliPoint Press, May 2006). His previous books include Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics (Routledge Press,… more

Let Citizens Guide Electoral Reform

Articles — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 03:00:00 -0500

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 and have no connection to the existing political establishment.

We believe that thoughtful, average folks, given the facts about California's political… more

Reconnecting Californians to Their Government (Sacramento)

Communications — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 18:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
01/26/2006 - 12:00pm

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 the people. British Columbia recently delegated the task of basic political reform to its own citizens by creating a panel of 160 voters chosen at random (like a jury pool). The Citizens Assembly members spent several months studying the performance of their democracy and ultimately proposed a change for voters to consider on the ballot. In doing so, British Columbia took stale partisanship out of the political process -- something California badly needs.

This highly successful experience has been turned into bipartisan legislation that was introduced this year into the California State Assembly and is receiving broad attention. The Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters recently wrote that Governor Schwarzenegger "should stop negotiating the terms of his surrender to the Legislature and make the [Citizens Assembly] his new crusade." Join the New America Foundation as we discuss the political implications of using Citizens Assemblies here in California.

New America Foundation is sponsoring this event statewide, on January 24th in Los Angeles and January 25th in San Francisco. If you are interested in attending either of these other events, please email Lily Ho at ho@newamerica.net.

For more info about the proposal for a California Citizens Assembly, see this article in the Sacramento Bee.

Reconnecting Californians to Their Government (San Francisco)

Communications — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
01/25/2006 - 12:00pm

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

A model solution lies across the border in Canada. Called a Citizens' Assembly, its strength lies in restoring power to the people. British Columbia recently delegated the task of basic political reform to its own citizens by creating a panel of 160 voters chosen at random (like a jury pool). The Citizens' Assembly members spent several months studying the performance of their democracy and ultimately proposed a change for voters to consider on the ballot. In doing so, British Columbia took stale partisanship out of the political process -- something California badly needs.

This highly successful experience has been turned into bipartisan legislation that was introduced this year into the California State Assembly and is receiving broad attention. The Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters recently wrote that Governor Schwarzenegger "should stop negotiating the terms of his surrender to the Legislature and make the [Citizens' Assembly] his new crusade." Join the New America Foundation as we discuss the political implications of using Citizens Assemblies here in California.

New America Foundation is sponsoring this event statewide, on January 24 in Los Angeles and January 26 in Sacramento. If you are interested in attending either of the other events, please email Lily Ho at ho@newamerica.net.

For more info about the proposal for a California Citizens Assembly, see this article in the Sacramento Bee.

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