The Silent Number

Posted: 2009-06-09

If you believe in democracy, then you should care about the current state of our own, here in America (sorry readers from the rest of the world!). If you're really aware, you might know that our democracy isn't in fact very strong at all. Many people barely consider it a democracy. We have much less say in goverment than we may think we do, but if we stand together, we still have the power to bring about great change.
People argue about today's hot topics and promote the causes they care about, but we need to focus on something a little more fundamental: our political process. Without a strong democracy, it might not be the case that the majority wins, but the side with the most influence (money) does instead.
To put into perspective only a few of the problems that still exist today: Why should we have an opinion if congress serves lobbyists instead of us? Why should we vote if our votes are not counted, are miscounted, or are downright manipulated? How can we form valid opinioins if the media serves corporate interests instead of putting journalism first? For all this and more, we need to focus on improving our democracy. here are my top 7 organizations that are doing exactly that. 

1. Change Congresshttp://change-congress.org/Stop congress from accepting money from lobbyists or PACs, end earmarks, and support reform to increase Congressional transparency
2. Free Presshttp://www.freepress.net/Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. If the media is slanted, how can you trust what you hear and see? 
3. Verified Voting Foundationhttp://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/Ensure our elections are reliable and publicly verifiable
4. Public Campaignhttp://www.publicampaign.org/Campaigns should be publicly funded to make elections about voters, not lobbyists and campign donors. 
5. FairVotehttp://www.fairvote.org/Our elections need universal access to participation, a full spectrum of meaningful ballot choices, and majority rule with fair representation for all. 
6. Sunlight Foundationhttp://www.sunlightfoundation.com/Open up government and increase transparency by revealing the interplay of money, lobbying, influence and government in Washington.
7. Free Governmenthttp://www.freegovernment.org/Empower citizens to engage in government decision making and promoting true representation in congress