Why Politics Needs Accountability

#PoliticalAccountability

Have you ever gotten fed up? Then you finally said: Screw it; let’s just fix it!

Screw it. Let's fix politics! There have been many efforts to improve politics, but it just gets worse.

Politics was never designed. America's founders designed America’s government but did not design political parties. In fact, they never intended for parties to form.

Why did parties form? Because Democracy doesn't work reliably unless representatives are accountable to voters. Real accountability to voters puts voters in charge. Without it, no one is in charge, leaving representatives to fend for themselves on a divisive issue.

So representatives form groups around the issue to give each side power. This creates new entities, political parties, that concentrate power. The new entity wants to survive, even after the issue is decided, even at the expense of what voters want and what’s good for the country. The easiest way to survive is to divide voters and make members loyal by telling one-sided stories, even lying. Concentrating power attracts corruption. So we end up with more or less corrupt parties dividing us, all because representatives are not accountable to voters. Parties have spread to state legislatures and even counties and city councils. The system has evolved so that it’s almost impossible for an independent or third-party candidate to win.

What's political accountability? Almost no one knows! It is SO missing that most people don't even realize it's missing!

PeopleCount has defined it rigorously. It’s a relationship where voters guide, politicians report, and everyone communicates. At PeopleCount, we’ve designed a communication system that makes it possible AND rewarding for both politicians and voters to remain accountable to each other, and work in a relationship of #PoliticalPartnership rather than a power-over OR power-under model.

PeopleCount can free politicians from being dependent on money, vastly lessening the power of money in elections. It can free politicians from dependence on the parties, lessening the parties’ power. It'll make elections more competitive. It'll take voters out of their information bubbles and make learning about issues rewarding. It'll powerfully reveal the hidden majorities on issues so that Congress can move forward, united. Plus, it'll expose wonderful new possibilities for solving societal problems, including political reforms.

All this is possible by intentionally designing the part of the political system that creates accountability between politicians and voters. Let’s fix politics. Let’s make people count.