Increasing Democracy

Progressive States is committed to a society where all are equal under the law and where government and economic institutions are accountable to the public, including:

• Clean and Fair Elections where states Reduce the Influence of Money in Politics through policies like lobbying reforms and public financing of elections, Grow the Electorate through election reform, Make Every Vote Count through fixing election administration procedures, enact National Popular Vote to guarantee full democracy in Presidential elections and increase turnout, Resist Vote Suppression by Right-Wing to protect the integrity of the vote, and promote  Electoral Alternatives to open the process to a greater diversity of views.

• Tax and Budget Reform should both provide the funds needed to fund critical social programs, even as state leaders Make Tax Systems More Progressive to promote greater economic equality, Fix Failed Tax Subsidies to improve economic development, and Reform Government Contracts and Restrict Privatization to assure that public services and assets serve both broad social goals and taxpayer interests.  

• Accountable Government should include Whisteblower Protection to expose government and corporate wrongdoing undermining public policy, Improving Government Data Collection to increase the effectiveness of government programs,promote Freedom of Information to keep government leaders accountable, and strenghtening Public Right to Know laws to inform workers and the public of potential violations of public policy by corporate wrongdoers.

• Progressive Federalism is the establishments of a new compact for federal-state relations, including greater Federal Funding for State Innovation for shared needs among the states, a commitment to Minimize Federal Preemption only to situations where Congress clearly called for blocking state laws and only where state law clearly conflicts with federal policy, and the promotion of Equal Rights for State Employees under federal civil rights laws.

• Media Reform should expand the diversity of voices involved in our public debatein place of the corporate control of much of current media.