Leveraging the Web

The root cause of all the problems in our democracy is that politicians are not accountable to voters. Accountability is a relationship needing certain kinds of communication that we don’t yet have. So politicians can not be accountable to voters.

Democracy works somewhat if politicians TRY to serve voters. But without full accountability, politicians can’t do a good job. They can’t derive power from voters. So they adapt. They accommodate other sources of power and are tempted by corruption daily.

When America was formed, there was very little communication with voters, so members of Congress formed parties. Most had America’s best interests at heart, so it worked pretty well. They also believed that lobbying was criminal, so they were spared that temptation. And they believed there should be no independent corporations, so they didn’t have them to deal with.

After 75 years with no corporations and almost no lobbying and then the very traumatic Civil War, things changed. They forgot how corrupt lobbying could be and began allowing it. They forgot how powerful corporations could get and eased up on the restrictions. That was the beginning of the railroad monopolies and their lobbying, and soon widespread corruption.

American history is fascinating, but it all happened without effective communication between politicians and voters. Technologies added the ability to communicate: Mail service, telephones, radio, television, and now the internet and smartphones. The parties and politicians have used these in their fight for power. The wealthy have used them to make laws that hurt citizens for profit.

PeopleCount will finally leverage the web for the benefit of voters, to create accountability, beginning with federal elections.

What’s accountability? A relationship, where politicians carry out the voters’ will and the voters monitor them. Accountability is most of the relationship between a worker and their manager. The manager gives direction, the worker makes promises and keeps the manager informed, and the manager monitors the worker and evaluates their performance.

Said again, this time using “voters” and “politicians”: Voters give direction, the politician makes promises and keeps voters informed, and the voters monitor the politician and evaluate the politician's performance.

Of course, voters don’t even know what they want unless they learn about issues. And politicians can’t know what voters want unless voters tell them. So the first part of PeopleCount is to have voters state their preferences on issues, and see the results. So on the site, you’ll have questions on issues that you can answer. And you can always go back and change your answers. Answering questions about issues will get you involved. Seeing what all voters want will set your expectations so you can evaluate your elected officials’ performance.

The other main part of PeopleCount is for politicians to report on issues. You’ll be able to get a report on each issue monthly from each politician and grade it. You, and every voter, will get to know the incumbent and challengers on the issues important to you. Plus, you’ll see their average grades.

When the next election comes around, voters will have a much better sense of whom to vote for. Plus, the politicians will have a much better understanding of what the voters want, so will be able to serve them better.

This will free politicians from most of the influence of money. They’ll be able to have a relationship of accountability with voters at a very low cost. They’ll be able to run a more effective campaign than they can today with so little money that they won’t need to fundraise while in Congress!

This will also free politicians from being so dependent on the parties. They’ll be in direct contact with voters, so they won’t need the parties.

This isn’t just before the election. This accountability will continue after the election as well.

The PeopleCount political communication platform frees politicians from being accountable to either the wealthy or the parties. It connects politicians directly to the voters.

You’ll vote on issues so we all know what The People want. You’ll grade politicians on issues to keep pressure on them to do a good job for us. Politicians will need very little money for campaigns, freeing them from their biggest corruption.

By voting on issues and seeing the results, and by grading reports and seeing politicians' cumulative grades, voters will communicate with each other, ensuring their power wins out, as it should in a well-functioning democracy. Together, voters will hold politicians accountable for carrying out the will of the people.