Can our democracy survive another 250 years?
From the Desk of Trevor Potter, Founder and President of Campaign Legal Center, our strategic litigation partner
BY TREVOR POTTER
This year, America will mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The question we should ask: What are we commemorating beyond the decision by a group of delegates to a Continental Congress to declare a formal separation from the British Empire?
I suggest that we are honoring our nation’s grand experiment in self-government, where a system giving “we the people” the authority to select our own government has been maintained for 250 years.
This aspirational system has persisted despite initial and continuing flaws and evolved into a more modern democracy, thanks to the tireless efforts of generations of Americans who have fought injustice and strived to make a more perfect union where government is truly inclusive and representative.
The fact of the matter is we have reached the American Semiquincentennial at a time when our system of representative self-government faces a dire threat. At this moment, there are possibly no more obvious examples of this danger than a president who is threatening to “nationalize” our elections, seizing ballots in Georgia to perpetuate the lie that the 2020 election result was fraudulent, and brutally cracking down on protesters exercising their First Amendment rights to speech and assembly in Minnesota and elsewhere around the country.
We must recognize that dissatisfaction with our government over a period of decades has played a significant role in bringing us to this moment of crisis. The election of a would-be dictator did not happen in a vacuum. It’s an electoral result driven, at least in part, by the people’s lack of faith in governmental institutions.
Campaign Legal Center has mounted a vigorous response to the Trump administration’s lawless actions in the effort to fight the descent into something the Founders of our nation would have seen as more akin to an absolute monarchy — better known today as authoritarianism. Today’s struggle to preserve our self-governing democracy centers around constitutional rights, the rule of law and the ability of voters to be the ultimate arbiters of how our nation is governed.
On that last point, I am extremely gratified to have Campaign Legal Center’s efforts to safeguard the midterm elections recognized in a recent New York Times editorial titled, “Trump Could Interfere With the Midterm Elections. You Can Help Defend Them.”
We face weighty and significant battles, but when we ask ourselves how American democracy can last for another 250 years (or even another 13 until the 250th anniversary of the Constitution) the answers necessarily revolve around lofty, yet self-evident (to borrow a phrase), ideas that must serve as beacons for progress, even at a time of great peril. Below are four pillars I believe are crucial to that effort:
1) Reining in a Broken Campaign Finance System
To start, our political system must not be dominated by an elite class of billionaire and corporate special interests who can, by virtue of immense wealth, purchase the obedience of elected officials and drown out the voices of everyday voters. This distortion inevitably produces a government that is less responsive to the will and wishes of the majority. Correcting this imbalance will be extremely difficult, but the solutions are clear.
First, we need structural changes to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) — the very agency I once led — that will allow it to engage in meaningful campaign finance law enforcement. Congress must contribute to this effort by advancing impactful legislation to address dark money and coordination. Voters are entitled to know who is spending huge sums to influence our elections, and the need for a true firewall between candidates and outside spenders has never been more obvious.
States have an important role to play as well. They have the power to mandate election spending transparency, reduce the influence of super PACs and implement public financing programs that make candidates less reliant on special interests.
On a broader level, we must move toward a system that largely rejects the concept of money as speech which cannot be limited, to prevent even the appearance of corruption and ensure all voices can be heard. U.S. Supreme Court rulings, including the now 50-year-old decision in Buckley v. Valeo and 2010’s Citizens United, laid the groundwork for turning our campaign finance system into a hunting ground for influence through unregulated political spending.
It is worth remembering that during the most recent election, multibillionaire Elon Musk put the weaknesses of our system on display, in part by directly paying Americans to support then-candidate Donald Trump — and by seemingly buying his way into a political appointment. Breaking this cycle of spending likely will require a Supreme Court majority that is open to a big change in direction — or a constitutional amendment that grants an affirmative right to regulate money in politics.
2) Reckoning with the Reality of Racial Discrimination
The electoral process must be completely fair and unbiased. This means every voter must have the same opportunity to meaningfully make their voice heard.
Discriminatory voter suppression is sadly alive and well in our nation, more than 60 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), a law designed to ban racially discriminatory voting practices. This is largely due to Supreme Court rulings that have severely undermined the critical protections of the VRA, and many fear the high court may be preparing to do further damage with its forthcoming ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
Regardless of how the justices rule, Congress must reassert its constitutional powers and re-address the persistence of racial discrimination in systems that govern how Americans vote and how they are sorted into districts. The answer to this problem is to revive the bipartisan consensus that once viewed such discrimination as a blight on our democracy. This means pursuing legislation that honors the vision of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantee all citizens an equal right to vote, access to the polls and political representation.
On this issue, states can play a positive role by enacting State Voting Rights Acts, laws that take steps to shore up voting protections in the face of a federal government no longer making such protections a priority. Responding to Supreme Court actions that have undermined protections for voters, eight states have enacted their own VRA’s, in some cases going further than the national Voting Rights Act. Campaign Legal Center has played a leadership role in crafting model voting rights legislation that we believe every state should adopt.
3) Redistricting That Puts People First in the Voting Map-Drawing Process
To ensure equal representation, reduce political polarization and encourage the election of representatives who can meet the needs of their constituents, partisan politics must not be allowed to dominate the map-drawing process for congressional districts and state legislative districts.
Congress possesses the legislative power to end partisan gerrymandering nationwide for federal elections once and for all, and it should pursue such legislation on a bipartisan basis. The need for a national solution has been shown in stark relief during the current redistricting arms race. Unless partisan gerrymandering is outlawed nationwide — subject to remedial federal court review — we can expect this race to the bottom to continue, to the detriment of our democracy.
In states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Utah, Campaign Legal Center, in partnership with voter-driven organizations, has won significant victories in the effort to end partisan gerrymandering.
4) Reducing the Public Trust Deficit Through True Accountability
A fourth pillar of necessary reforms concerns greater accountability across government through strong, enforceable ethics standards. Currently, only the U.S. House of Representatives is subject to independent ethics oversight, thanks to the work of the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC). The OCC is empowered to receive complaints of misconduct, pursue them through investigations, publish its findings and refer matters to the House Ethics Committee.
This level of transparency and accountability must also be applied to the executive branch, the U.S. Senate and the Supreme Court. When senior government officials, lawmakers and justices in our nation’s highest court are permitted to engage in questionable or outright suspicious activity without any meaningful investigation or sanction, it undermines public trust, which, by extension, weakens our democracy. This is more important than ever with an administration flagrantly violating ethics norms and rules — and with corruption trickling down to other parts of the government at a rate never seen before.
The Unique Nature of American Democracy
During the years that followed the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the 13 original colonies engaged in a vigorous process of debate that eventually produced the U.S. Constitution, which remains the oldest written national constitution still in force today.
That framework has been amended and improved over time, in the face of setbacks and retrenchments. This is a process that must continue if we want American democracy to persist and thrive for another 250 years. When this administration has ended, we must take stock of lessons learned, consider what amendments are necessary to prevent the authoritarian actions we have seen, and reform our system of government.
The good news is that strong majorities of Americans support the solutions I’ve outlined — and Campaign Legal Center is actively fighting to make them a reality. What is needed today is the political will to honor the wishes of all Americans who see the steps needed to achieve the promise of a more perfect union.
Looking for more in-depth insights on issues critical to our democracy? Consider subscribing to the “From the Desk of Trevor Potter” newsletter, written by Campaign Legal Center’s founder and president, Trevor Potter. Get expert analysis and learn more about Campaign Legal Center’s efforts to protect and strengthen democracy for all Americans by subscribing via email or on LinkedIn.
Democracy and personal freedoms will not survive with this present administration. They are already trying to rig the election process. Trump wants to supervise all elections , Nationlize all elections , have control over who counts the vote. Take the election power away from the states. Rig the voter calculators. The only way to defeat the despots who are presently engaged in sweeping the immigrants and dissenters out of the USA is to VOTE BLUE UP AND DOWN THE BALLOT. YOU HAVE GOT TO GET THE HOUSE AND SENATE IMPEACH THE DESPOTS.. Give them all the same due process they give others and ship them of to unknown lands. Weather you like it or not go blue just for the next two elections . Save a country worth saving. God Speed.
Sometimes I wish we would stop using the word transparency and just say truth. People want the TRUTH..all of it.