What Is the Democracy Reform Movement?

Democracy has long been considered the pinnacle of governance, but it’s now facing unprecedented challenges. These challenges are many, from vote suppression to the excessive influence of big money in politics. The democracy reform movement was started in a bid to weaken the challenges facing democracy and strengthen the United States’ democratic institutions.

The Democracy Reform Movement: An Overview

The democracy reform movement is a collective effort to strengthen democratic principles. The reform movement strives for gains in areas like transparency, citizen empowerment, and fair representation. By pushing for transformative democracy reform legislation, we can change the way our government interacts with citizens to bring about true political change for future generations.

Democratic reformation addresses political dysfunction to strengthen our institutions for the betterment of all. These movements have strategic objectives and specific policy outlines that help guide their work, one of the most important of which is ensuring fair elections. By pushing for laws such as the For the People Act, we can ensure that all voices are heard and that our elected officials cannot ‘rig the game’ in their favor. The democracy reform movement also has a large focus on expanding voting rights and ensuring equitable ballot access for all.

What Is Addressed by the Democracy Reform Movement?

In a period of history that’s been marked by extensive political polarization and reduced public trust, the democracy reform movement addresses many different challenges to our government, while striving for democracy advocacy. These potential weak spots are the main causes of an injured democratic process and include low electoral integrity, gerrymandering, and campaign finance violations. By tackling these challenges, grassroots initiatives aim to restore faith in our government and administrative systems.

4 Common Challenges to Democracy

#1: Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering is manipulating the boundaries of electoral districts to favor one electoral party over another. It diverts the democratic process, making it difficult for voters to elect their preferred candidates.

Gerrymandering can be done in numerous ways, the most common of which involves “packing and cracking.” Packing means concentrating voters of a party into one district, while cracking is dividing voters of the other party into many separate districts. This can be done by drawing district lines that are intentionally convoluted.

Gerrymandering has many negative effects on government, including polarized legislatures, and can also minimize the public’s trust in democratic institutions. The democratic reform movement aims to minimize the effects of gerrymandering by establishing independent redistricting commissions that aim to make district lines fairer. Electoral reform is essential for maintaining fairness for all.

#2: Non-Transparent Campaign Financing

Big money in politics is one of the largest challenges that our government faces today. Shady campaign financing weakens democracy and makes it difficult for citizens to vote with accurate information and informed choices. Campaign finance reform involves changing the rules that dictate how money is raised and spent in elections. This branch of democracy reform aims to reduce the influence of money in politics, increase transparency, and level the playing field for all candidates.

#3: Misinformation and Political Polarization

During election seasons, there is almost always a rise in misinformation. Unfortunately, the spread of false or misleading information can undermine the voter's trust in elections and democratic institutions. It can also contribute to political polarization, as some people will fall for the lies of misinformation while others will seek out the truth.

One of the keys to promoting a healthy participatory democracy and dispelling misinformation is to increase media literacy. This involves providing the public with resources to sift through partisan journalism, understand the reasons for political polarization, and access unbiased sources of information.

#4: Poor Electoral Observation and Oversight

Poor monitoring of elections may result in a loss of trust among voters, and if left unchecked, this issue can create a lack of confidence in political candidates and elected officials.

Increasing civic engagement in elections is a method the democracy reform movement has used to help reduce election corruption and voter fraud. Enhancing oversight prevents fraud and manipulation and helps to gradually increase trust amongst voting blocks. This should be done by both local and national experts who have a variety of expertise in ensuring the sanctity of the election process.

Democracy Reform: A Grassroots Movement

The democracy reform movement is on the front line of safeguarding the power of democracy — and a variety of nonprofits and other organizations are involved in the fight against corruption. The following three organizations are some of the leaders in the democracy reform space, all relying on grassroots activism to spread their cause:

#1: FairVote

FairVote prioritizes ranked choice voting, an alternative electoral system where voters can rank candidates in the order of their preference. Ranked choice voting has been found to increase the representativeness of elected officials, while giving voters more choice and agency on election day.

FairVote also promotes the Fair Representation Act, which aims to combat gerrymandering. This act hopes to establish independent redistricting commissions to prevent corruption, putting power back in the hands of the people.

#2: RepresentUs

RepresentUs is a leading anti-corruption organization. They work city by city to establish better checks and balances within government.

The organization also helps to pass laws that are crucial to increasing transparency in campaign finance, ranked choice voting, and establishing independent redistricting commissions, which stops gerrymandering in its tracks.

#3: GoodParty.org

A standout contributor to the democracy reform movement, GoodParty.org is a nonprofit organization committed to fostering transparent, accountable governance. Through initiatives like citizen education and advocacy for ethical political practices, the nonprofit has become a driving force in the pursuit of democratic excellence.

At GoodParty.org, our goal is to ensure freedom and transparency in our political institutions and to put an end to the dysfunction of America's two-party system. 

How You Can Join the Democracy Reform Movement

Ready to make your mark in the democracy reform movement? GoodParty.org has the resources you need to get involved today — whether you’re interested in learning more about the movement, signing up to volunteer, or even running for office as a people-powered, anti-corruption candidate. Join our community of independent thinkers and see how small steps can make a big difference!

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash