The Economist Intelligence Agency ranked America as the 28th best democracy in the world. We were downgraded from ‘full democracy’ to ‘flawed democracy’. This is a national scandal, a moment of shame. America should be, must be, the best democracy in the world, the shining city on the hill Reagan described. We must do whatever is necessary not just to resuscitate our democracy, but to return it to the top of the list as the best democracy in the world. The Bill of Democracy is necessary to accomplish this goal.
Amending the Constitution, a document that has served us for nearly 250 years, is dangerous but at times it is also necessary. This is one of those times. Our founding fathers expected us to amend the Constitution. George Washington himself said “If in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates.”
The distribution of our constitutional powers among the three branches of government is decidedly wrong at the moment. There has never been a more appropriate time to amend the Constitution.
While we are proposing a number of amendments, the truth is they all fall under the same category of ‘Protecting our Democracy’. Much like the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights enshrined individual rights in our Constitution, our Bill of Democracy will do the same for our democratic rights.
There is a long list of items that need to be addressed to fix our democracy. Click LEARN MORE to understand the reasoning of our recommendations for the Bill of Democracy.
Section 1. The rights of the people to free and fair elections shall not be denied or abridged by the influence of private money in campaigns for public office.
Section 2. Congress and the States shall regulate and may prohibit contributions and expenditures in elections, and shall provide for the public financing thereof.
Section 3. Congress and the States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. No person shall be elected to the House of Representatives more than six times, and no person who has served more than twelve years as a Representative shall be eligible for election to the House thereafter.
Section 2. No person shall be elected to the Senate more than two times, and no person who has served more than twelve years as a Senator shall be eligible for election to the Senate thereafter.
Section 3. For purposes of this article, only one term of service completed prior to its ratification shall be counted for persons elected to the Senate.
Section 4. For purposes of this article, only three terms of service completed shall be counted for persons elected to the House of Representatives.
Section 5. This article shall not apply to any unexpired portion of a term served by a person elected or appointed to fill a vacancy of less than two years.
Section 6. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. No electoral district for the House of Representatives or for any State legislature shall be drawn for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring a political party, candidate, or group of voters.
Section 2. Congress shall require by law that such districts be established by independent commissions, and shall prescribe standards to ensure equality of population, contiguity, compactness, and respect for political subdivisions and communities of interest.
Section 3. Congress and the States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. Justices of the Supreme Court shall serve a single term of eighteen years and shall not be eligible for reappointment or re-nomination.
Section 2. The terms of the Justices shall be staggered so that one Justice is appointed every two years.
Section 3. At the conclusion of a Justice’s term, they may continue to serve in senior status on lower federal courts as provided by law, but shall not participate further in the decisions of the Supreme Court.
Section 4. Upon ratification of this article, the Justice with the longest continuous service on the Supreme Court shall be deemed to have completed their term at the end of the next two-year cycle, followed by the Justice with the next longest service at the end of the subsequent two-year cycle, and so forth, until all sitting Justices are placed on staggered terms consistent with this article.
Section 5. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 6. If a Justice dies, resigns, is removed, or is otherwise unable to complete their term, the President shall nominate, with the advice and consent of the Senate, a successor to serve only for the remainder of that term.
Section 1. The President and Vice President shall be elected by the people of the several States and the District constituting the seat of Government, each citizen having one vote. The candidates receiving the greatest number of votes for President and Vice President shall be elected.
Section 2. In the event that two or more candidates receive an equal number of votes for President or for Vice President, Congress shall by law provide for the manner of resolving the tie.
Section 3. Congress shall prescribe by law the time, place, and manner of such elections and shall provide for the administration thereof.
Section 4. Congress and the States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
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