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> People keep voting for representatives that do this kind of thing. People don't vote (less than 40% in that election). Make voting mandatory, like in Austral

> People keep voting for representatives that do this kind of thing. People don't vote (less than 40% in that election). Make voting mandatory, like in Australia (or at least make it a national holiday), and require a certain amount of real political coverage in the media -- politicians would then better reflect the needs of the people.

tertius 9y ago
> and require a certain amount of real political coverage in the media "Require" and "free press" don't go together unfortunately.
- stanleydrew 9y ago
  This is not true. The first amendment says the government can't pass laws to suppress free speech. And in fact the press is required to do all sorts of things for the public good, such as: https://www.fcc.gov/general/emergency-alert-system-eas https://www.fcc.gov/general/emergency-alert-system-eas
- JoshMnem 9y ago
  It's a complicated issue, but see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine
SOLAR_FIELDS 9y ago
Other nice ideas: > Cap political donations > Reduce allotted time for campaigning to something like 2 months, and maybe have it publicly funded like Australia > Use open source congressional redistricting algorithms > Eliminate First Past the Post > Eliminate straight ticket voting All pretty nice ideas that mostly everyone that isn't in power can get behind
- mobilefriendly 9y ago
  Direct political donations (known as hard money) are already capped in the U.S. Beyond that, the U.S. has a tradition of free speech, which means that direct public funding and limits on general political activity (party building, voter education spending) are unconstitutional. So those cannot be capped.
  - BoiledCabbage 9y ago
    > Beyond that, the U.S. has a tradition of free speech As well as a tradition of placing limits on free speech when appropriate. Which is a larger threat to our country? Democratically elected officials not supporting the views of those that elected them? Or capping the amount of influence a single group can financially have?
- conanbatt 9y ago
  > Reduce allotted time for campaigning to something like 2 months, and maybe have it publicly funded like Australia I do want to say that public funding also comes with its issues. Its the way most parties in Argentina fund themselves and because all of them do, all parties get to put their hand of the State coffers during elections. So much, they made an electoral reform to have another round of elections, just to be able to spend more money on pork. There is no solution to funding political parties that wont screw someone. Its yet another example of diminishing the scope of government so they just steal less of it.
cloakandswagger 9y ago
Mandatory voting, what an absurd idea. If you can't get people to voluntarily participate in democracy then you have a failed implementation of it. Furthermore, the ability to not vote is a powerful and necessary option, as it's hard for those in power to imply that they have a mandate if <10% of the population actually participated in it. I don't know what mandatory voting accomplishes except giving those in power the ability to say, "Tut tut! No complaining! You got your vote, after all."
- undersuit 9y ago
  You still have the ability to not vote, Australia just fines you for not voting. What's more powerful of a statement: not voting with no obligation to vote, or not voting in spite of the punishment?
- pjc50 9y ago
  Mandatory voting doesn't actually require a choice, you can just file a blank ballot. What it does completely deal with is the voter registration question.
syshum 9y ago
People do not vote because their vote does not matter, politicians do not care what the majority voters want, they care about selected few elite voters want Want to get more people voting there are a few things that need to change 1. End First past the post... Anything is better, IRV, Alternative Vote, something else. 2. End 2 Party Gerrymandering, Parties should not have any control over distracting at all Should follow some other function like Zip Code, or Taxing Jurisdiction, or some other government function, not just for voting 3. Implement the Wyoming Rule for for congress 4. Pipe Dream... Put the federal government back into constitutional limits and reverse Wikard v Filburn or pass a law that renders it void 1-3 would do alot, #4 would do the most good Election reform, (not election finance ) is needed but too many people focus on the money, the money is just a symptom of the problem, not the actual problem. Solve the underlying systemic issue with the voting process and the money becomes pointless and will dry up on its own

tertius 9y ago

> and require a certain amount of real political coverage in the media "Require" and "free press" don't go together unfortunately.

stanleydrew 9y ago
This is not true. The first amendment says the government can't pass laws to suppress free speech. And in fact the press is required to do all sorts of things for the public good, such as: https://www.fcc.gov/general/emergency-alert-system-eas https://www.fcc.gov/general/emergency-alert-system-eas
JoshMnem 9y ago
It's a complicated issue, but see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine

SOLAR_FIELDS 9y ago

Other nice ideas: > Cap political donations > Reduce allotted time for campaigning to something like 2 months, and maybe have it publicly funded like Australia > Use open source congressional redistricting algorithms > Eliminate First Past the Post > Eliminate straight ticket voting All pretty nice ideas that mostly everyone that isn't in power can get behind

mobilefriendly 9y ago
Direct political donations (known as hard money) are already capped in the U.S. Beyond that, the U.S. has a tradition of free speech, which means that direct public funding and limits on general political activity (party building, voter education spending) are unconstitutional. So those cannot be capped.
- BoiledCabbage 9y ago
  > Beyond that, the U.S. has a tradition of free speech As well as a tradition of placing limits on free speech when appropriate. Which is a larger threat to our country? Democratically elected officials not supporting the views of those that elected them? Or capping the amount of influence a single group can financially have?
conanbatt 9y ago
> Reduce allotted time for campaigning to something like 2 months, and maybe have it publicly funded like Australia I do want to say that public funding also comes with its issues. Its the way most parties in Argentina fund themselves and because all of them do, all parties get to put their hand of the State coffers during elections. So much, they made an electoral reform to have another round of elections, just to be able to spend more money on pork. There is no solution to funding political parties that wont screw someone. Its yet another example of diminishing the scope of government so they just steal less of it.

cloakandswagger 9y ago

Mandatory voting, what an absurd idea. If you can't get people to voluntarily participate in democracy then you have a failed implementation of it. Furthermore, the ability to not vote is a powerful and necessary option, as it's hard for those in power to imply that they have a mandate if <10% of the population actually participated in it. I don't know what mandatory voting accomplishes except giving those in power the ability to say, "Tut tut! No complaining! You got your vote, after all."

undersuit 9y ago
You still have the ability to not vote, Australia just fines you for not voting. What's more powerful of a statement: not voting with no obligation to vote, or not voting in spite of the punishment?
pjc50 9y ago
Mandatory voting doesn't actually require a choice, you can just file a blank ballot. What it does completely deal with is the voter registration question.

syshum 9y ago

People do not vote because their vote does not matter, politicians do not care what the majority voters want, they care about selected few elite voters want Want to get more people voting there are a few things that need to change 1. End First past the post... Anything is better, IRV, Alternative Vote, something else. 2. End 2 Party Gerrymandering, Parties should not have any control over distracting at all Should follow some other function like Zip Code, or Taxing Jurisdiction, or some other government function, not just for voting 3. Implement the Wyoming Rule for for congress 4. Pipe Dream... Put the federal government back into constitutional limits and reverse Wikard v Filburn or pass a law that renders it void 1-3 would do alot, #4 would do the most good Election reform, (not election finance ) is needed but too many people focus on the money, the money is just a symptom of the problem, not the actual problem. Solve the underlying systemic issue with the voting process and the money becomes pointless and will dry up on its own