The Big Ideas Project

Recall by all affected voters. The eligible voters are all those affected by an elected officials actions (i.e., for a congressman, all voters nationwide, for a state legislator, all voters in that state, etc.). Signatures of 1% of all eligible voters puts a recall on the ballot; 2/3 of those voting (which, to prevent issues with low turnout, must also be 1/3 of all eligible voters) removes him from office and bans him from ever again holding office.

Submitted by Dave Anderson in Government & Elections Jan. 5, 2015, 5:05 p.m.

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#2227

22 votes

Taking as given that money will always find a way into politics, could we approach electoral fairness by, in essence, removing national platforms and centralized party power and, instead, having advocacy groups (polled/ voted on for the issues that matter most by represented region) up for election and then tying that to a representative - whose success - working without predefined yeas and nays - is based on negotiated progress on those observed issues?

Submitted by Ryan in Government & Elections Dec. 10, 2014, 4:18 p.m.

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#2227

22 votes

Candidates must agree in writing to uphold the Party Platform. An independent group elected will audit the votes of elected officials. If they score less than 85%, they may not run for re-election, as agreed. If they score between 85-94% they will have to pass a Pre-primary vote of confidence to be eligible for the primary. Make the platform mean something. Hold official's accountable. Don't allow incumbents carte blanche to run & suck up all campaign funds just because they are incumbents.

Submitted by Timothy Salt in Government & Elections Dec. 20, 2014, 3:25 p.m.

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#2238

21 votes

make any amnesty bill contingent on this new class of citizens having a 10 year waiting period before being allowed to vote in federal elections. As to make the process of getting people out of the shadows free from political games and pandering.

Submitted by Westmemphisthree in Government & Elections Dec. 10, 2014, 11:37 p.m.

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#2238

21 votes

Develop a method to include a set number [ four perhaps?] of National referendums to be voted on in each election which includes candidates for any federal office.

Submitted by Gary Paul in Government & Elections Dec. 10, 2014, 10:48 p.m.

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#2238

21 votes

Provide all citizens with national ID traced to full DNA profile & other biometric data. All new borns get it at birth. ID absolute proof for voting in any elections for federal positions.

Submitted by Kitty in Government & Elections Dec. 10, 2014, 11:55 p.m.

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#2238

21 votes

Secret voting in Congress and the Senate - see the link below - to understand the benefit of this more!!! Without secret voting in the Congress and Senate their VOTES and be bought and makes way for VOTER INTIMIDATION - please check it out!!

Submitted by BLEV in Government & Elections Jan. 4, 2015, 4:36 p.m. 1

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#2238

21 votes

Sue organizations presenting their information as "news" that isn't for false advertising. It's a tragedy that the best news on television is on a COMEDY show.

Submitted by Mary T. from MI in Government & Elections Jan. 9, 2015, 8:02 a.m.

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#2238

21 votes

Institute the 22 reforms to Congressional rules and practices published in Esquire magazine, Oct 15, 2014, developed as a bi-partisan consensus. Those interested in good GOVERNANCE may read Francis Fukuyama’s Political Stability and Political Decay, 2014, which poses that United States governance is presently in decay.

Submitted by yes in Government & Elections Dec. 21, 2014, 1:52 p.m.

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#2238

21 votes

Voting is the problem. If you see an insecurity in this voting system, sing out so it can be fixed.

Submitted by ct in Government & Elections Dec. 29, 2014, 8:33 p.m.

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#2256

20 votes

Implement Approval Voting, the simplest beneficial change to our current system of voting, for all elections.

Submitted by Drew B in Government & Elections Jan. 3, 2015, 3:16 p.m.

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#2265

19 votes

If taxpayers must have certain I.D. to vote, then they should also have certain I.D. to pay taces.

Submitted by Gregory B. in Government & Elections Dec. 12, 2014, 5:57 p.m.

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#2265

19 votes

Employ range voting in all elections.

Submitted by ct in Government & Elections Dec. 29, 2014, 8:31 p.m. 1

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#2265

19 votes

--Have Efficient Campaign Ads-- It is possible to have campaign ads that don't cost much but have a big impact. Send letters to campaign experts and you will get some ideas.

Submitted by tiborw in Government & Elections Dec. 10, 2014, 8:28 p.m.

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#2265

19 votes

Stop the division in Congress by forever banning the phrase "across the aisle". Alternate seating according to party affiliation.

Submitted by Harley in Government & Elections Jan. 4, 2015, 11:13 p.m.

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#2265

19 votes

Abolish Political Parties all together. Each individual is a "party". No stereotyping as a result of "Party Conditioning." This will force the voters to feel more self-important and would result in their feeling the need to become a more "Self-Informed" voter.

Submitted by thecatlady in Government & Elections Jan. 6, 2015, 10:27 p.m.

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#2281

18 votes

Stop obeying a constitution whose authors weren't even representative of their own society, much less ours. At each level (federal, state, local), the government (the executive) should be elected by a single legislative body elected by pure proportional representation.

Submitted by Merrill B. from VA in Government & Elections Dec. 26, 2014, 10:55 p.m.

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#2281

18 votes

End gerrymandering and dilute the effects of money in campaigns by instituting Multi-Member districts and Ranked Choice Voting in the House of Representatives. http://www.fairvote.org/reforms/fair-representation-voting/

Submitted by Clark in Government & Elections Jan. 15, 2015, 4:33 p.m.

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#2291

17 votes

For those that have the time, setup up a call line to volunteer for jury and/or grand jury at the various government levels.

Submitted by Bill Korbel in Government & Elections Dec. 30, 2014, 2:44 p.m.

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#2291

17 votes

Create an academy for training future civil servants, modeled on the military academies and much as Hamilton proposed 200 years ago. Apparently Hillary Clinton had the same idea in 2008. Graduates would eventually become the core leaders in government agencies, providing continuity between administrations. Today most senior civil servants learned on the job as they made their way through the ranks, have no formal training in management, and are often replaced by a new administration.

Submitted by SoundDoc in Government & Elections Jan. 12, 2015, 8:59 p.m.

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#2299

16 votes

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