Re-Imagining Our Democracy: From The Grassroots Up

Re-Imagine

Today’s Republicans see politics through the eyes of a states’ rights republic; Democrats have a We The People, democracy perspective. Everyone voting, and counting every vote, is a primary objective of most liberals, progressives, and other leftwing Americans. Conservatives are less anchored to such popular election concepts. Of course, that view is more prevalent with far right conservative politicians, pundits, and partisans.

The current electoral college system that makes the senate so powerful, as to representing the number of states rather than the number of voters, is bolstered by the reduction of one person, one vote value in our Constitution’s republic portion. While republicans will say the United States is a republic, I take the view that we are a democracy with various limitations, or checks and balances, related to a republic, like senators and representatives. It is possible to reduce, increase, or change those checks and balances, often done through new amendments, depending on our needs as a nation over time.

Though change may be threatening to conservatives, things do change, have changed, and must change. To that end, the U.S. radically overhauled its governing structure twice in ten years. First in 1777, Americans agreed to the Articles of Confederation, then in 1787 the founders crafted our Constitution. We are…