Rejuvenating Democracy:

Creating a Political System We Love

Rejuvenating Democracy, the upcoming book by Rand Strauss, describes how America can fix its broken political system so Congress is accountable to the people and money doesn't buy elections.

This solution is called: PeopleCount.
Please, add your email to the announcement list.

It's very different from proposed "improvements". To be adopted, other proposals require new legislation oreven a constitutional amendment, which means a long, expensive, and uncertain, political fight. Even if one such herculean efforts succeeds, it'll just be one improvement atop the same old "politics as usual."

With these other "solutions":

• People will have no new reason to care about politics.
• People will have no good reason to become better informed.
• Candidates will still rely on expensive political campaigns.
• Power brokers, wealthy interests and PACs will still determine who gets into office. li class="list">The parties will still be in gridlock, controlled by their extreme wings.
• The silent majority will still be silent.
• Congress will still not be answerable to the people.

Rejuvenating Democracy proposes a way to fix all of these. Yes, for Congress to be accountable to you, the people, you'll have to spend 10-20 minutes a week guiding them and holding them accountable. This is a small cost to turn government around, to get Congress working for us, the people.

The root problem is that politicians are not significantly accountable to voters. Even in elections, where voters must choose between a two, or several, equally unaccountable candidates.

Most people don't even have a good definition of accountability, so we don't realize how completely missing it it.

In the book, democratic accountability is defined as a relationship, where the politician must give a true and accurate account of their accomplishments, progress, and plan on issues in order to get voter approval. And without that approval, they won't be reelected.

Real democratic accountability means politicians and voters, even millions of voters, have real 2-way communication. Plus, voters communicate on issues so they can manage politicians together.

Lack of accountability causes big problems, including:

• Rpresentation is poor.
• Communication between politicians and voters is poor.
• Poor communication causes it to be expensive which is what gives political power to the wealthy, giving them veto power on issues.
• The parties split voters, so voters think opposing the other party is more important, so voters focus on that instead of solving societal problems.

PeopleCount addresses all of these. With it, we'll easily be able to pass legislation that large majorities of Americans want but is currently stopped by special interests and partisan gridlock, such as reforming campaign financing, end Congress' conflicts of interest with lobbyists, and reforming immigration rules. Plus we'll be able to get good people to run for office, not just those who are supported by the wealthy, power brokers, and extremists.

When we use PeopleCount Congress will be able to represent us, the people, rather than their donors or just the voters in their own party. Congress will be able to do what voters want, rather than follow impractical political philosophies.

Too good to be true? Consider this- America was founded on mere ideas enshrined in the constitution. Today, we have much more experience about what works in many kinds of organizations. Plus modern technology makes possible new ways of communicating. Much more is possible than America's founders new, or our experience with free-for-all social networks suggests.

Rand Strauss studied politics and accountability and traced back our problems to their root cause. He describes how the lack of accountability has been hidden by political myths, even as it has produced most of today's problems in politics. And he has designed a simple, rewarding system to deliver accountability, starting with Congress.

Currently, our political system has evolved to be the arena in which the parties fight for power, controlled by the wealthy. In the book, you'll learn hor our political system can become the way We, The People, design and build our future together.

Please add your email to the announcement list.

Blurb:

Do you want to rejuvenate democracy, so it's of, by and for the people? That's exactly what you'll learn to do in Rand Strauss' new book Rejuvenating Democracy. It lays out a simple plan by which ordinary Americans can take back government not only from wealthy special interests, but also from the antagonistic, power-hungry grip of party politics. And you can do it this year! Get your copy of Rejuvenating Democracy coming October, 2024.

#LetsMakePeopleCount

Table of Contents

Ch 1: Why is Politics in America so Horrible?

Introduction.

Section 1. Allowing our minds to think politics can be fixed.

Ch 2: Why Fixing Politics Feels Impossible.

We expand this myth into 9 mostly true reasons.

Ch 3: Why Me?

We look closely at the first reason that fixing politics seems impossible- it would take a different sort of person. We look at me and my journey.

Ch 4: How Fixing Politics is Possible

We look at the other reasons fixing politics seems impossible, and see how they can be overcome.

Ch 5: What about the political accountability we have now?

In today's political system, there's almost no real accountability, even in elections.

Ch 6: How can America be Both Great and Broken?

Many have difficulty imagining our political system can be fixed because they think our political system is the best.

Section 2. Problem and Solution

Ch 7: American Democracy is filled with Problems

We outline 12 problem areas.

Ch 8: What is Accountability?

Before discussing the solution, we need to understand what’s missing.

Ch 9: The Solution: PeopleCount; Delivering Political Accountability

We take an imaginary journey into the future to see the effect of real political accountability.

Ch 10: PeopleCount’s Impact on our Political Problems

We revisit the problems in politics and see how the solution will effect them.

Section 3. The future

Ch 11: Opportunities once Communication Problems are solved

A short journey into PeopleCount’s probable future

Ch 12: Conclusion and Next Steps