The last post suggested we solve the basic problem in politics– lack of political communication between citizens and politicians. We want a system purpose-built to support accountability to citizens. I’ve written extensively about how PeopleCount is such a system. This is about its benefits, how it solves or helps solve some of what we usually think of as the main problems in politics.

A system purpose-built to support political accountability

People complain about the parties, the expensive campaigns and the corruption of lobbying and money. Others complain that voters don’t care or are poorly informed.

These are all symptoms of a poorly designed political system, a system where politicians are not accountable to people. So of course PeopleCount solves them.

Parties in Gridlock

Parties are in gridlock because A) parties have usurped people’s power, and B) they want more power, especially the Republicans. The Republican leadership has carried out a war on Obama- their strategy was to say no to everything he did.  Many Republicans were willing to shut down the government entirely. Similarly they’re anti-Hillary.

The remedy to this is to free politicians from needing the party. If Congress simply focused on doing what 80% of citizens want, they’d have plenty to do. And when the easy stuff was done, they could not only compromise, but get approval to compromise from citizens and still please 80%.

A system purpose-built to deliver political accountability to citizens much succeed in these sorts of issues. And if people support it, it can’t fail.

Expensive campaigns and the corrupting influence of money

Money corrupts precisely because campaigns are expensive. Money is needed.

Imagine if we had PeopleCount. Imagine that a member of Congress and three challengers are communicating with citizens for two years before the election, at low cost. Imagine they’re submitting monthly reports and being graded. Imagine citizens are seeing their progress on every issue and comparing it with what the challengers are offering. When PeopleCount is used widely, candidates won’t need much money for campaigns.

Plus, surveys say almost all voters, 97%, support anti-corruption measures. If this becomes obvious on PeopleCount, what do you think members of Congress will do? Do you think they’ll ignore it and get lousy grades on this issue? And 85 percent of Americans want fundamental changes in the way we fund our elections. So yes, PeopleCount will solve this. Things that voters overwhelmingly want will happen quickly.

Accountability to citizens will make campaigns less expensive so money is much less important. And it’ll push Congress to pass anti-corruption legislation quickly.

Citizen care more and be better informed

Today, most citizens feel it doesn’t matter if they are involved in politics. Their voices aren’t solicited, much less heard. So why be informed? Many ignore it.

The worst part is caring. It’s hugely frustrating to care about political causes. To the extent that people care about it, they’re pretty miserable. So many people stop caring, to whatever extent they can manage it. Often people adapt by mostly not caring, and then getting mad once in a while. It’s this anger that the parties, especially the Republicans and Trump, tap into.

So imagine you could go online and just vote on the issues you care about. Suddenly your voice matters.

And then your representative and senators report to you on it. You can see from the way the country votes whether a solution is possible. If half the country wants something and half the country hates it, then either we live with it or we find a compromise. But we can stop blaming politicians and parties and focus instead on educating ourselves and finding a better solution.

You can make PeopleCount deliver on its mission

Will PeopleCount, purpose-built to deliver accountability to citizens, succeed? That’s the wrong question. The empowering question is: How can we make it succeed? First in delivering what its basic promise. Second in delivering more that’s needed.

What more is needed will be covered in the next article.