When I make a list of what’s wrong with our American political system, it becomes long. Consider the following:

• accountability – No rigorous definition is widely known; 
• campaigns – Very expensive; it’s difficult even for a great, but unknown, candidates to reach voters.
• candidates – Good, qualified people face a huge barrier with both their time, money, and logistic; running for office is more than a full-time job, so only the wealthy can afford it.
• competition – most incumbent seats are uncontested; gerrymandering gives many incumbents a virtual lock on a seat.
• congress – Lots of their time is spent fundraising instead of doing their job; corruption is rampant, with half retire to cushy jobs in the industries they oversaw; current party gridlock has made it dysfunctional; the House speaker and Senate leader have most of the power.
• elections – Multiple-level winner-take-all system easily elects a poor candidate;  the candidate with the most money almost always wins.
• incumbents – Congressional incumbents have a huge advantage in name recognition, connections to power brokers and the party, and a large “war chest” of campaign funds.
• influence of corporations – Taboo to America’s founders, corporations wield enormous power through their wealth funding lobbyists and trade groups, even groups to write legislation.
• influence of wealthy – Wealthy interests have hugely disproportionate power to support campaigns and lobbying.
• influence of lobbyists – Taboo to America’s founders, lobbying is rampant in America (the “petition” clause of the bill of rights protects an individual’s right to petition, not to hire a fancy lawyer or a former representative to petition for them.)
• media – Mostly funded by advertising which invites censorship and corruption; greedy for viewers (often part of entertainment corporations), they are tempted to pander to emotions or even demonize one side to ingratiate themselves with a narrow audience; good media is often behind a paywall; there’s no penalty for dishonesty, even fake news; there’s no penalty for divisiveness or low standards.
• parties – Third parties have no real chance; there’s no check on party power, honesty, ethics or performance; exert pressure on incumbents to fund-raise.
• president – There’s no real check on power, honesty, ethics or performance, except by his/her own party, which s/he usually leads.
• primaries – In most districts, one party rules, so the primary decides the election; voter turnout is often low; they’re often poorly publicized
• representation – There’s no science to it, no standard measurement of how well people are represented – so we don’t know; many feel they’re poorly represented. 
• voting – Often very difficult and expensive for poorer people- on a weekday, not a holiday, with many states not allowing voting by mail.
• voters – Many are apathetic and poorly informed, having no reward for caring or learning about politics; many eligible voters aren’t registered to vote; many registered voters don’t vote in elections; even fewer vote in primaries.
• vote tallying – Often private, secret, vulnerable to tampering.

In this list of what’s wrong with American national politics, notice that there are large problems in every area.

That suggests the problems aren’t simply superficial ones that can be dealt with separately. Further evidence of this is that groups have tried to solve each of these problems, yet they persist. We’re even passed national laws to solve some of the these problems, but those also haven’t worked.

We should re-examine the system itself. Perhaps one of these problems is central to all, or most, of the others.

If flawed, America could still have a potentially great system. It’s just that somewhere within it there’s a flaw that damages the whole thing.

Imagine have a great house.  But it sits on an unstable patch of ground, and a fulcrum has risen beneath its center. During an earthquake, or strong wind, it tilts and sinks no longer drain. Or it shifts and pipes or electrical wiring breaks. Or walls shift and pull at the roof where cracks appear and rain comes through, leading to stains in the ceiling and mold. Windows crack or pop out. Doors don’t open or if opened, won’t close. It’s a great house, but this one problem in the foundation brings constant and debilitating problems.

There’s widespread agreement that America’s founders did a great job. Perhaps the flaw has crept in over time, and we just didn’t notice it. After all, the founders added the amendment process and it has been rarely used. Since the 1700’s, we’ve never had a constitutional convention.

Entertain the possibility that there’s a systemic problem.

This is what PeopleCount has been created to address.