PeopleCount is a web application (under construction) designed specifically so that participation transforms politics to be democratic, informative, peaceful, and constructive. It does this by creating new kinds of political communication.
New, Scalable Political Communication
“Communication” doesn’t mean only messaging to anyone, or about anything. Nor does it mean conversations. PeopleCount offers structured communication so that it “scales.” This means that if millions of people communicate on PeopleCount to you, it is still easy and fast to understand that communication quickly.
What communication? The communication needed for our members of Congress to have a relationship of accountability with voters.
What is accountability? It’s most of the relationship between an employee and their manager. The manager directs the employee and requests regular reports on certain subjects. The employee reports. The manager evaluates each report and gives feedback. In politics, the voters are co-managers together.
Thus the communication is the directing, reporting, and evaluating communication between voters and politicians, plus between all voters so we can efficiently manage (directing and evaluating) together.
In addition, the voters are co-hiring-managers of challengers. They’ll report too, focusing on keeping the incumbents honest and what they would do if elected. After a few months of seeing and evaluating reports, we’ll have a much better idea of whom to vote for.
You might call PeopleCount a marketplace, where voters find and rate politicians. Keep in mind that it’s more than this as well. By voters stating (voting) their preferences on issues, we will also know what our representatives should be doing. Knowing what all voters in the country want allows us to set our expectations of what’s likely.
PeopleCount’s Benefits to Voters and Democracy
PeopleCount’s biggest effects will be to:
- lessen the power of money in politics
- lessen the divisiveness of the parties
- motivate Congress to pass legislation on issues voters want.
Note there are many issues on which significant majorities (over 60%) of voters agree, such as health issues, abortion, even some gun issues. One independent organization has a list of over a hundred issues on which majorities of informed voters agree. Especially, there are many political-reform issues that voters agree on that Congress has avoided for years. Currently, these are hidden. Members of Congress don’t talk about them much and the news media ignores them.
On PeopleCount, these hidden majorities will be obvious. Voters will expect action. On issues where 80% or more of Americans agree, we’ll expect action right away.
Currently, we rely on the media and the political parties and their leaders to make issues known. Once known, there’s no way to pressure Congress to act. On PeopleCount, voters together will be able to make issues known plus pressure Congress to act.
This is not “direct democracy.” As a voter, you won’t need to read bills or negotiate what is in them. That’s still our representatives’ job. Your new role, on PeopleCount, is to co-manage them.
PeopleCount’s Financing
PeopleCount will pay for itself by charging politicians a reasonable fee, with a discount for challengers with low budgets. The current plan is at most $5,000 per month for a member of the House of Representatives, or one quarter of their money raised. There’s a starting fee and a minimum monthly fee to ensure only serious contenders run for office.
Donations to PeopleCount are welcome. Money donated to PeopleCount will be credited to your account for you to assign to candidates for their PeopleCount expenses. As per federal rules, your donation to each candidate is limited. To donate, click here.