Do you want to know why American political officials are not accountable to The People? It’s because they can’t be. It is because YOU and I are not holding them accountable. It is because YOU and I don’t effectively participate. Specifically, we don’t participate in accountability.

Our politicians are trying

Most, or all, or our members of Congress went into politics to make a difference in representing people well. When they got there, they couldn’t. They had brains (most of them) and voices and intentions. They had notions of what constituents wants. But others had other notions. And they couldn’t go back to the People and ask them what they really want.

The winners of our elections got to Washington and there was no national conversation about what to do. Instead, there were parties fighting for power, and partisan sides to either join with or fight with. There were lots of lobbyists representing all sorts of special interests. Lots of people want to meet with them and have them do stuff. But not you and me. We’re at home, mostly working and looking for work, taking care of ourselves and our families and our houses and jobs.

When our members of Congress got to Washington, all the best advisors told them they had to either work for two years (six for senators) and then quit, or they would have to spend hours fundraising every single day. They are told there’s really no other choice. They had to meet with lobbyists and go to fundraising events and make lots of phone calls asking for money. If they don’t, they are told they won’t have enough money to run an effective campaign next time.

And the results are the results we see

So that’s what they do. They try to keep in touch with us and what we want, but they can’t do that very effectively. Mostly, they guess. They read reports and polls and letters to editors, too. And then they either guess or go with their gut.

And the results is the state of Congress today. America is an oligarchy, not a democracy. There’s no correlation between the bills that are passed and what the people want. There’s a high correlation between the bills that are passed and what the wealthiest special interests want.

You and I are not represented

You and I aren’t in Washington. We have no way of holding politicians accountable. Our politicians are mostly trying hard to do their jobs well. If we want them to do better, we’re going to have to make a better system. We’re going to have to make a way for us to participate.

Currently, we have no way to effectively participate. Many of us have tried and it doesn’t work. Those who are most dedicated work for causes. Or we go to political party meetings. Or we write letters to senators and representatives or to the media and nothing changes.

To make accountable politicians, you and I must participate in accountability

If we want accountable politicians, we’re going to have to make a way to participate in them being accountable.

If we want accountable government, we have to make some sort of accountability system.

That’s why PeopleCount has designed one.  But we, too, need your participation.