Democracy
The Democracy Program seeks to change the ways in which citizens participate in their government by fixing the systems that discourage voting, hinder competition and promote the interests of the few over the rights of the many.The challenge is great. Built-in obstacles bedevil our democracy. A patchwork of federal, state, and local laws govern campaigns and elections, creating a labyrinth of administrative barriers to voting. And money spent to elect candidates increases with each election cycle. District boundaries, drawn by incumbents who often elevate their personal and partisan power over the interests of their diverse constituents stifles the possibility of meaningful competition between can dates.
Our program collaborates with grassroots groups, advocacy organizations and reform-minded government officials to eliminate these obstacles. We strive to ensure that public policy and institutions reflect the diverse voices and interests that make for a rich, energetic democracy. The Center will advance these goals using tools of research, policy analysis and publications, media outreach and public education, legislative counseling and advocacy and legal action.
Four goals animate our work towards comprehensive reform:
- A voting system in which every vote counts, all citizens are registered, eligibility rules are expansive and turnout increases dramatically. Our voting reform work aims towards universal voter registration.
- An electoral redistricting system that protects civil rights, promotes partisan balance, and preserves real communities.
- A campaign finance system that reduces the role of big money in elections by providing voluntary public financing at the national, state and local levels.
- Fair, impartial courts that protect equal justice, individual rights and the checks and balances essential to the rule of law and promotion of standards to hold judges accountable for unbiased, reasoned and transparent decision-making.
Foreword by Professor Burt Neuborne
Common Cause of Colorado, et al. v. Buescher
A coalition of voting rights groups sued the Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman (who, upon leaving office, was replaced by Brian Buescher) claiming he illegally removed over 27,000 voters from the rolls. They filed a temporary restraining order to get those names reinstated and to ensure additional names cannot be removed before Election Day.
Citizens United v. FEC (Amicus Brief)
The Brennan Center for Justice - serving as counsel for itself and several new media journalists - filed a supplemental amicus curiae brief in Citizens United v. FEC. The brief urged the Supreme Court to preserve landmark precedents that support limits on corporate spending in elections.
The Ninth Circuit held that Washington’s criminal disenfranchisement law violates the Voting Rights Act. The decision is the first in the country to find that, due to racial discrimination in the state’s criminal justice system, the felony disenfranchisement law results in the denial of the right to vote on account of race.
Citizens United discussion at Bill Moyers Journal
Campaign Finance Reform expert and Brennan Center staff Monica Youn was joined by Professor Zephyr Teachout from Fordham Law to discuss the Citizens United Supreme Court decision and what it means going forward. Watch now.
No Time To Wait for the Effects of Citizens United
As Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens predicted in his eloquent dissent on the Citizens United case, “[w]hen citizens turn on their televisions and radios before an election and hear only corporate electioneering, they may lose faith in their capacity, as citizens, to influence public policy.” With the 2010 election season looming, we must act quickly to restore public faith in our democratic process.
A bad call on campaign finance
Two approaches to curbing the tide of campaign money that will follow in the Supreme Court’s decision on Citizens United v. FEC.
Illustrations by Risko
With Corporations’ New Outsize Voice, Can Shareholders Speak?
New policy proposal based on British law shows congressional leaders how to give corporate shareholders a voice in election spending.
Coalition Urges New York to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering
Today the Brennan Center for Justice urges New York State Senate and Assembly leaders to end prison-based gerrymandering. In most of New York, people in prison are counted in the Census where they are incarcerated rather than in their home communities. This policy skews the demographic characteristics in both urban and rural locales throughout the state. The campaign being launched today will urge passage of legislation that would use the 2010 Census to count people who are in prison in their home districts rather than the districts where they are incarcerated. Sponsored by Senator Eric Schneiderman and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, the legislation could affect the redistricting landscape in upcoming elections.
Letter to New York State Board of Elections Regarding Overvotes on Optical Scanners
Letter to the New York State Board of Elections from a coalition of civil rights and voting rights groups regarding the high incidence of overvotes seen in voting systems recently adopted in New York.
NYC Bar Supports Client Disclosure Requirement for Attorney-Legislators
There is no basis for the claims by some legislators that information about the part-time law practices many maintain alongside their official duties, such as the identity of their clients, is privileged and confidential. The NYC Bar report, issued today, refutes this.
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy’s Testimony for the Committee on House Administration Hearing
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy presented this testimony at the hearing titled “Defining the Future of Campaign Finance in an Age of Supreme Court Activism”.
President Obama on the Supreme Court’s decision on Citizens United
The President makes a practical, powerful (and brief) statement on money in politics in the wake of the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United v. FEC.
State lawmakers’ first step must be basic reform
New York’s broken system needs some basic mending before they get down to polishing the bills. The needs for ethics and campaign finance reform are immediate.