In the last article, we saw that term limits, by themselves, probably won’t limit corruption, promote new ideas or stop career politicians. It’d be another huge effort to get Congress to pass the anti-corruption legislation needed to really make term limits work have these effects. Plus, it’s unlikely that Congress, or even the states, would pass a term limit amendment. But PeopleCount can help.

How about better communication with each other?

PeopleCount proposes a 3-prong solution. First, it helps us communicate with each other about what we want. 75% of us want term limits. If we all knew that, we’d start expecting it. We’d not only work harder for it, but our representatives would take notice.

Imagine that America votes on PeopleCount on this issue. We’d see that it’s wanted. Contrast this with what happens today.

Every time I sign a petition on Change.org, I have to visit the petition, wonder who is receiving it, uncheck the “Display my name and comment” box, click the Sign button, and then handle the subsequent email they send me about it. And I don’t see the results. Usually, I never hear about status, much less if it made a difference. Often, like for this issue, there are multiple petitions like this that are going to multiple groups. Plus there are petitions with other organizations (that also don’t show results).

On PeopleCount, you’ll sign in once, answer the question and immediately see the results. You can log in anytime later to see new results and even to change your answer. You’ll see the results for your district and your state, as well as the country. You’ll also see links to more information, including surveys if they exist.

Better communication with our politicians

Our politicians will see the results, too. Plus you’ll be able to check a box saying you want monthly updates. You’ll actually get follow-up information from your public servant.

And you’ll grade each update! What do you think’s going to happen if your incumbent doesn’t do what people want? He’ll get a bad grade. And that grade will be public. That’s just the beginning of the pressure. Challengers will also be able to report. They’ll compete to satisfy us.

So you’ll have 4 kinds of communication on an issue you care about:

1. We all say what we want on that issue
2. We each say if it’s important enough to get a report
3. We receive monthly reports from the incumbent and each challenger
4. We grade those reports, and share the cumulative grades

The biggest part of accountability is answerability- making them tell us of their progress and plans on the issues that are important to us. And this is in a relationship of accountability. We judge them. This is the basis of PeopleCount.

The term limit amendment will be an issue in the election

This is where the rubber meets the road, where you hold politicians accountable to act on the issues important to you.

Currently, I have no choice about a term limit amendment. I know 75% of Americans want them, but I don’t know if the people in my district want them nor where the incumbent and challengers stand on the issue. With PeopleCount, I’ll know.

And more challengers will be able to run. With PeopleCount, politicians will be able to communicate with us at very, very low cost. My guess is that in my district most people are happy with the incumbent on most issues. With PeopleCount, someone could easily run for office and say they’ll continue to support the incumbent’s popular positions. And they’ll get grades similar to the incumbent’s. But on the issues where the politician disagrees with the people, the challenger can support the people’s position and get better grades.

When the election comes, we’ll have a much easier time electing someone who’ll serve us better.

In the third part of this series, we’ll see two more ways that PeopleCount will help us get a much better solution than just term limits.