Reflective Democracy

Gerrymandering is wrong, no matter who does it – Democrats or Republicans. The fight for fair redistricting has always been about shifting power from politicians to the people.

Today, Common Cause is launching a new effort to ensure voters’ right to know where presidential candidates stand on practical solutions to the challenges facing our democracy. The Our Democracy 2020 campaign will focus getting every presidential candidate in the Democratic and Republican primaries to respond to a 17-question survey and inject the high priority conversation on the need for democracy reform in the presidential campaign. 

Juneteenth -- the celebration of Emancipation Day a.k.a. America's other Independence Day -- is a good time to reflect on the lingering systemic disenfranchisement that occurred after slavery ended. The prison industry has taken advantage of the “punishment exception” to the 13th Amendment. After the end of slavery, states passed discriminatory laws to arrest and imprison large numbers of freed black people. Incarcerated black people were then leased out or forced to provide free labor to private individuals and corporations. This still occurs today as states across the nation continue to lease out incarcerated people to private corporations.

Broadway's 73rd Annual Tony Awards did not disappoint. It was entertaining, thought-provoking, provided poignant social and political commentary, and in one of its most powerful moments, Tony Award winner for Best Director of a Musical Rachel Chavkin called out Broadway for not having more women or people of color nominated in her category -- a conversation that echoes our reflective democracy work.