Difference between revisions of "Draft GPUS Platform Amendment Democracy Chapter Introduction"

Revision as of 08:27, 20 March 2010

Our nation was born as the first great experiment in modern democracy. We seek to rescue that heritage from the erosion of citizen participation. Moreover, we seek to dissolve the grip of the ideology, intoned by big-money interests for more than twenty years, that government is intrinsically undesirable and destructive of liberty and that elected officials should rightly “starve the beast” by slashing all spending on social program, in the name of freedom. We challenge that tactic by calling on all Americans to think deeply about the meaning of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In a democracy, individuals come together to form structures of governance that protect and advance the common good. We the citizens are the government, and we the citizens can direct it to fulfill its finest goals and purposes. Our citizens must not permit usurpation of their authority by acts of individuals and government agencies that isolate or insulate government from their oversight and control. We, the People, have a responsibility to participate in self-government through all the means that our Constitution provides.

Citizens of a democracy must have the information and ability to determine the actions of their government. Vast concentrations of wealth and power that have occurred in recent years are inherently undemocratic. The deregulation of corporate activity and the decentralization and underfunding of the regulatory structures that remain – accompanied by the centralizing of big money – has been a disaster for our country. The true owners of the public lands, pension funds, and the public airwaves are the American people, who today have little or no control over their pooled assets or their commonwealth.

The power of civic action is an antidote to the corporate control of so much of our law-making and regulating. The pervasive abuse imposed by corporate power increasingly undermines our democracy, but the Green Party seeks to rekindle the democratic flame. As voting citizens, taxpayers, workers, consumers, and stakeholders, we unite to exercise our rights and, as Thomas Jefferson urged, to counteract the “excesses of the monied interests.” Toward this end, we consider serious reform of campaign funding to be essential, as well as curbs on the influence of corporations on lawmakers and regulatory agencies.

The Green Party considers American democracy to be an ongoing, unfolding project that is dynamic and creative in nature. We are committed to the strengthening of our civil society, including the many mediating institutions at the community level that have always characterized our democracy. We seek to heal the alienation and apathy that has been cultivated in the citizenry by the power-brokers of the status quo. Righteous anger about the crippling of our democracy is rising in the land, and the Greens offer constructive alternatives. In addition, we seek to repair the plummeting opinion of the United States in the international community resulting from our arrogant, narcissistic foreign policy of recent years. A growing and grave imbalance between the citizens of this country and the interests which extract power from the citizens is an imminent danger to our security and national and global social stability. We strongly feel that our country should view itself as a member of the community of nations… not above it. The United States could well play a leadership role in that community but only if we become committed to an eco-social vision of peace, national self-determination, and international cooperation.

Our goal is to become an important political force in this country, and to present candidates for election at every level of government.

SUGGESTIONS FROM SAM SMITH

SOME OF OUR POLICIES

GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY

- We will work to increase public participation at every level of government and to ensure that our public representatives are fully accountable to the people who elect them.

- We support:

Instant runoff voting Public campaign financing Free and fair access to radio and television by all candidates Great increased limits on lobbying An amendment to the Constitution to end corporate interference in elections Sunshine laws at every level of government The right to initiative, referendum and recall in all states Proportional representation combined, as in the German model, with single district representation. Statehood for the colony of DC as well as an increased number of states to make the Senate more representative. Broader voter participation and ballot access including universal voter registration and an election day holiday and/or multi-day elections Carrying out government at the lowest practical level. Urban neighborhood councils with significant powers. The right of convicted felons to regain full citizenship rights upon completion of their sentences, including the right to vote and to run for elected office. The right of prisoners to vote The creation of children's parliaments, in which studentscan discuss, debate and make proposals to local, state and national legislatures. Voter-verified paper audit trail for all voting machines. Electronic voting machines must include a verifiable paper trail that allows every voter to verify that his or her vote was recorded and counted accurately, coupled with random audits based on the paper trail.

We oppose

Political district gerrymandering Public action committees and soft money contributions Allowing corporations to affect elections by use of the their monies. Limits on smaller political parties to keep them off the ballot The Electoral College Proprietary vote counting software codes and urge that all such codes be open for public verfication before and after an election.