The confidence of the American people in the ability of our elected officials to make good decisions on behalf of the people has eroded. For many reasons listed here, America's Representative Democracy is failing to solve the problems of the American people fairly and equitably.
The United States of America is founded on the principle that the people govern themselves through their elected officials. These elected officials work together to make laws that help the people live better lives. The laws are to be fair and apply to all of the people equally. Because these elected officials are chosen by the people, these officials represent the interests of the people. Thereby fulfilling the founding principle of government by the people as written into the Constitution of the United States. This founding principle, however, is continually being challenged by groups that wish to undermine the people's self-rule.
History has shown us that human traits such as fear, greed and prejudice can influence our judgment and decision making. When too much decision-making power is concentrated in government, the laws that are created can be unjust or unfairly distributed among the people. The founders of the United States understood this and constructed into its Constitution the safeguards that could prevent this concentration of power. These safeguards, that are the three branches of government (Executive, Legislative and Judicial), are continually being tested for their constitutional integrity outlined in the Bill of Rights.
Our elected officials in the Executive and Legislative branches are influenced by much more than the will of the people. In their effort to solve the nation's problems, they are constantly being lobbied to give more support for a particular portion of the population. Whether it be from individuals, corporations, unions or other organized groups, this effort to influence our government officials can result in laws that favor one group over another. When this lobbying effort includes money, or favors that may be necessary to be elected into office, the decisions of our elected officials may be further biased.
Political Parties also place significant influence on our representatives. The prolonged incumbent consequence of gerrymandering keeps the same representatives in office. The senior representatives demand loyalty from the junior representatives in the form of their party line vote. This puts further pressure on our representatives to put the Party's interested ahead of the people's interests they represent.
An additional concern is the false information and character assassination of our elected representative's reputation and that of their political challengers. With the easy distribution of any information as news and with the quick to judgment tendency of the voting public without regard for information accuracy, it is easy for the voting public to be mislead about persons and events. This can degrade the quality of the people being elected or willing to run for office, which can in turn result in poor decisions made on behalf of the people.
For these reasons, American Think Tank is creating a social media application to share ideas in the pursuit of real solutions to America's problems. The solutions that are identified are ranked by the peoples' popular belief that they could help improve their lives. As each solution gathers support, our current policy makers could use these solutions to improve their decisions on behalf of the American people or the American people can elect new representatives that will.
