How To Fix Gridlock: Bold Solutions To America's Problems - Politico

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Everyone agrees something is broken. Can we make it better?

Misinformation

See all Misinformation ideas

1. Mandated Civics Education and News Literacy
2. Cut Back on Electronic Connectedness
3. No More Politician-Speak
4. A Voting System That Accounts for Ignorance
5. Term Limits for Pundits
6. An FCC Fine for Lying
7. Replace Standardized Tests with Debates and Deliberation
8. Correct For the Media’s Negativity Bias
9. Restore the Fairness Doctrine
10. Better Data About America’s Future
11. Government Funding for Local Newspapers
12. Hold Social Media Platforms Accountable for Defamation
13. Real-Time Scoring of Candidates’ Accuracy at Debates

Inequality

See all Inequality ideas

1. Pass an Anti-Racist Constitutional Amendment
2. Nominate Only Women to Open Congressional Seats
3. A Tax to Boost Immigrant Communities
4. End the Drug War Now
5. Courage and Vision...
6. Gender Quotas
7. Eliminate Race-Based Policymaking
8. A Guaranteed Income
9. Create a Maximum Wage
10. Publish Distributional, Not Just Aggregate, Growth Data
11. Invest in Decriminalization
12. Don’t Let Civil Rights Protections Slip
13. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission
14. Move Some Federal Agencies Out of Washington
15. Make State Legislatures Full-Time Jobs

Polarization

See all Polarization ideas

1. Bring Back Weekly Bipartisan Senate Meetings
2. Multimember House Districts
3. Mandatory National Service
4. Redistricting Reform
5. Religious Literacy Education
6. Make Congressional Orientation Bipartisan—and Ongoing
7. Vote Trump Out
8. More Social Media Regulation
9. Shift Power Back to the Local Level
10. Ban Partisan Gerrymandering and Enact Open Primaries Nationwide
11. Ranked-Choice Voting
12. Rethink Social Media So It Doesn’t Encourage Conflict
13. Get Politicians Out of Cars
14. Bring Back Patriotic Art
15. Don’t Be Mean
16. Politics Is Not the Answer
17. A Domestic Exchange Program
18. Statewide Proportional Representation in the House
19. Congressional Pen Pals
20. Forced Bipartisanship

Participation

See all Participation ideas

1. A 21st-Century Voting Rights Act
2. Let Immigrants Run for President
3. Move Voting to Veterans Day
4. A Bigger—Virtual—House
5. A Tax Credit for Voting
6. Give Nonstates Full Congressional Representation
7. Restore Voting Rights to Ex-Felons
8. Select Public Officials Randomly, Like Jury Duty
9. A ‘No-Confidence’ Vote on Presidential Candidates
10. Automatic Voter Registration
11. Make Policy More User-Generated
12. Confer a Positive Constitutional Right to Vote
13. Strengthen Local Political Parties
14. A National ID Card and Automatic Voter Registration
15. Get More People to Vote
16. Break Up Lawyers’ Monopoly on the Law
17. Educate Americans About How to Run for Office
18. Let More People Vote, More Easily
19. Directly Elect the Speaker of the House
20. End the Electoral College
21. Same-Day Voter Registration

Gridlock

See all Gridlock ideas

1. Ditch the Filibuster
2. Start With Problems, Not Parties
3. National Ballot Initiatives
4. End the Permanent Campaign
5. A Permanent Committee to Improve Congress
6. Impeachment 2.0
7. Return All Legislative Power to Congress
8. Fix Our Broken Immigration System
9. Teach Congress About Science and Technology
10. A Congressional Pork Barrel Fund
11. Congressional Bonuses on Merit
12. Occasional Anonymous Votes
13. Try Again

Corruption

See all Corruption ideas

1. Cut Government Salaries
2. Give Citizens Vouchers to Hire Lobbyists
3. Shut the Revolving Door Once and For All
4. Overturn Buckley v. Valeo
5. Disclose Corporate Campaign Spending
6. Curb Corporate Power
7. Public Matching for Small-Dollar Federal Donations
8. A New Cabinet Position and Federal Agency to Fight Corruption
9. Term Limits
10. Make Campaigns Exclusively Public-Funded

How To Fix

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Gridlock

Congress is stuck. Here’s how we can jolt it into action — or work around it.

1

Ditch the Filibuster

Harry Reid

2

Start With Problems, Not Parties

Charles Koch

3

National Ballot Initiatives

Tim Wu

4

End the Permanent Campaign

Jennifer Lawless

5

A Permanent Committee to Improve Congress

Kevin Kosar

6

Impeachment 2.0

Sanford V. Levinson

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7

Return All Legislative Power to Congress

Robert P. George

8

Fix Our Broken Immigration System

Michael Anton

9

Teach Congress About Science and Technology

M. Anthony Mills

10

A Congressional Pork Barrel Fund

Reader Submission

11

Congressional Bonuses on Merit

Reader Submission

12

Occasional Anonymous Votes

Reader Submission

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13

Try Again

Reader Submission

Illustration and animation by Ben Fearnley.

Photos: Getty Images; AP; Wikipedia Commons; Flickr; Chris Lehmann, courtesy of New Republic; Gary Shteyngart, photo by Brigitte Lacombe; Kevin Kosar, courtesy of R Street Institute; Michael Anton, courtesy of Hillsdale College; Matthew Continetti, courtesy of Washington Free Beacon; Rebecca Sandefur, courtesy of John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Myrna Pérez, courtesy of Brennan Center.

Art direction by Megan McCrink. Design and development by Erin Aulov, Andrew Briz and Lily Mihalik. Editing by Margaret Slattery, Chris Suellentrop, Ruairí Arrieta-Kenna and Zack Stanton. Photo research by Katie Ellsworth and Bill Kuchman. Videos produced and edited by Brooke Minters, Krystal Campos, Eugene Daniels and Mary Newman.