This week I had the honor of speaking about Common Cause Maryland to a very unusual audience - a delegation of Congressional Representatives from Peru.<\/p>
Le groupe de sept repr\u00e9sentants du Congr\u00e8s \u00e9tait pr\u00e9sent avec l'International Republican Institute, une organisation \u00e0 but non lucratif et non partisane bas\u00e9e \u00e0 Washington qui promeut la libert\u00e9 et la d\u00e9mocratie dans le monde. Cette visite leur a permis d'apprendre comment les gouvernements f\u00e9d\u00e9ral et des \u00c9tats am\u00e9ricains maintiennent des normes \u00e9thiques \u00e9lev\u00e9es, et mon discours a \u00e9t\u00e9 l'occasion d'\u00e9voquer le r\u00f4le des organisations de d\u00e9fense des droits humains dans la responsabilisation des \u00e9lus \u00e0 l'\u00e9gard de ces normes.<\/p>
Preparing for the speech I was more than a little nervous. I knew that the primary language in Peru is Spanish, and that I would most likely be working with a translator -- something I had never done before. I also knew that Peru's government had been through some significant upheavals, and wasn't sure how to make my experiences working in Maryland relevant to their experiences in Peru.<\/p>
I started where any unprepared person would start -- with a Google search. I learned that Peru is a Federal Republic with a unicameral system, with 120 Senators serving 5 year terms. The country has mandatory voting and over a dozen political parties. There is a free press with some strong national newspapers but the media suffers from heavy conglomeration under corporate ownership.<\/p>
The difference that struck me the most was the strength -- and the role -- of non-profit organizations in the government. While there are groups working hard in Peru, particularly around human rights and social services, there is no system like ours for allowing advocates to work both as watchdogs and as partners in the process of government. When you think about it, that concept is pretty amazing. This session we held rallies, garnered press attention, and generated letters from citizens to their elected officials. But we also sat at the table with legislators and staff, drafting amendments and developing strategies for passing strong reforms.<\/p>
When I finished my presentation (the translators only had to ask me to slow down once, which was a true victory for me!) I fielded a lot of good questions. There was significant interest in public funding, and how it creates greater opportunities for women and other minority candidates to run for office. There was interest in how our state legislature works, and one question in particular stuck with me. A Congressman asked, \"With only 90 days, and two to three thousand bills introduced each year, how are the legislators able to work through it all?\"<\/p>
Les l\u00e9gislateurs \u00e9tudient tous ces projets de loi gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 leur travail acharn\u00e9 et intelligent. Ils collaborent avec des d\u00e9fenseurs et des groupes de d\u00e9fense qui rassemblent les citoyens et proposent des solutions.<\/p>
Il s'av\u00e8re que Lima et Annapolis ont beaucoup en commun. Nos \u00e9lus travaillent tous deux dur pour le bien public, et nous avons tous deux notre lot de scandales et de probl\u00e8mes d'\u00e9thique. Le P\u00e9rou a des id\u00e9es dont nous pourrions nous inspirer\u00a0; le vote obligatoire rend certainement nos taux de participation \u00e9lectorale loin d'\u00eatre d\u00e9mocratiques, et la multiplicit\u00e9 des partis politiques pourrait contribuer \u00e0 d\u00e9sengorger Washington.<\/p>
Mais aujourd'hui, on m'a rappel\u00e9 que le r\u00f4le de Common Cause est unique et important. Nous sommes les gardiens de la d\u00e9mocratie. Nous donnons la parole aux citoyens au sein du gouvernement\u00a0; nous demandons des comptes aux \u00e9lus\u00a0; et nous luttons pour le bon fonctionnement de notre gouvernement. J'\u00e9tais fier de parler de ce r\u00f4le aujourd'hui et je suis fier de poursuivre ce combat demain et tous les jours qui suivront.<\/p>