Reform is essential to save democracy.
But taking back control is a multi-step process. Many important reforms can be accomplished with a simple act of Congress, and when that’s sufficient, that’s what we advocate. However, creating a democracy that represents us all will also require bold Constitutional reforms. Both approaches are necessary to take democracy back.
This is our two-stage plan for reform:
Legislative Reforms: These reforms can be passed by Congress immediately with public pressure.
Constitutional Reforms: These are structural changes that will require amendments to the Constitution.
Legislative Reforms
The battles we’re fighting now.
Political Spending and Campaign Finance
If we don’t get money out of our politics, we might not have a functioning political system at all. While the most important reform we can make in this area is passing an amendment overturning the infamous Citizens United decision, passing a Constitutional amendment is a long and difficult process. In the meantime, we recommend a slate of common-sense reforms to limit the influence of money in politics, including:
- Banning all anonymous political contributions, whether to a candidate or advocacy group.
- Banning non-citizens from making political contributions.
- Harsher penalties and aggressive enforcement against candidates and advocacy groups that coordinate spending and messaging in violation of the law.
The Anti-Corruption Agenda
Corruption replaces the rule of law with rule by special interests and backroom dealers, taking power out of your hands and putting it in the hands of the elite. It creates a two tiered justice system and denies Americans a fair hearing before the law. Like termites eating away at the studs in a house, corruption weakens the system invisibly and from within. That’s why Take Democracy Back endorses the strongest anti-corruption agenda in American history, including:
- A lifetime ban on lobbying by former members of Congress.
- A ban on stock trading and speculation by sitting members of Congress.
- Enacting harsher penalties for white collar crime, corporate crime, judicial misconduct and professional malfeasance.
- Ending police immunity.
- Establishing a new, independent federal law enforcement agency to target corruption, fraud, and white collar crime.
- Modernizing existing laws to prohibit all acts of public and private corruption which deprive the public of honest services.
A Worker’s Bill of Rights
For too long, corrupt elites have undermined worker protections that earlier generations shed blood to win. As a consequence, the rich got richer and the workers got screwed. But democracy can’t flourish when corporate elites treat American workers like medieval lords abusing their peasants. In order to take democracy back, we have to rein in a corporate sector run amok. That’s why we’re proud to support a Worker’s Bill of Rights, including:
- Extending the protections of employment and labor law to the workers who are left out, such as farmworkers, gig workers, and tipped employees.
- Full protection for workers to organize and strike.
- Tough penalties for union-busting activity.
- The right to not be fired unfairly.
- Mandatory worker representation on corporate boards.
- Encouraging policies promoting employee ownership and worker management.
Fair & Proportional Representation in the House
Much of the decay plaguing our democracy begins in the House of Representatives. Each election cycle, nearly nine in ten House seats are uncompetitive, effectively ensuring one party rule in much of the country. This undemocratic system is enabled by the use of gerrymandered, winner-take-all districts, where the politicians select the voters and not the other way around. In every state, huge sections of the electorate go unrepresented–encouraging polarization, extremism, and voter apathy.
In order to take democracy back, we must replace the corrupt and outdated winner-take-all system with a fair system of proportional representation.
So how does a proportional system work? Let’s say a state has 10 House seats in total.
- Under our current system, each of the ten seats is assigned to a single district that elects a single representative. Party A could win all ten seats even if it only won 50% of the overall votes, leaving half the voters with no representation.
- Under a proportional system, if Party A wins 50% of the statewide vote, it would receive 5 of the 10 seats. In this system, everyone’s vote counts, third parties can emerge, polarization is minimized, and partisan gerrymandering becomes virtually impossible.
Reining in the Supreme Court
Right now, the Supreme Court consists of nine unelected justices who serve for life, making sweeping partisan decisions without accountability to the voters. To take democracy back, we would expand the Court to 13 members, randomly chosen, one judge from each of America’s 13 Circuit Courts of Appeals.They’d serve on the Supreme Court for a one or two-year term, then return to their appeals court positions.
This reform would eliminate the motivation to appoint partisan justices, ensure geographic balance, and provide a constant influx of fresh ideas in our nation’s highest court.
Ending the Electoral College Through the National Popular Vote Compact
The Electoral College is undemocratic and frequently overturns the will of the people. While fully abolishing the Electoral College requires a Constitutional amendment, we urge all fifty states to immediately adopt the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). Under the NPVIC, states agree to assign their electoral votes to the nationwide popular vote winner, effectively ending the Electoral College’s unfair influence without amending the Constitution.
Promoting Direct Democracy and New Electoral Innovations
Democracy thrives through innovation and local empowerment. We support experiments with caucus-primary hybrids, citizen deliberative processes, and other direct democracy methods. These can be implemented at local, state, and party levels, empowering communities and diluting the corrupting influence of money and party insiders.
Constitutional Reforms
Restoring checks and balances.
Overturn Citizens United
The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision to allow unlimited political spending in American elections is corrupting democracy at every level. Allowing billionaires and corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money undermines equal participation because it amplifies the voices of a rich elite at the expense of the many. Passing a Constitutional amendment to overturn the Court’s decision is essential to restoring a level playing field in politics and ensuring that every American has an equal voice in our democracy.
Curtail the Imperial Presidency
The office of the Presidency has grown too powerful. Recent presidents have bypassed Congress, the courts, and the will of the people. They’ve committed the American military to fights we did not seek to fight, started trade wars no one asked for, and spent money they were not authorized to spend. Making a bad situation worse, in 2024 the Supreme Court granted presidents virtual immunity from criminal prosecution, overturning the fundamental American principle that no one is above the law.
We believe that no leader should be above the law, and we believe that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
That’s why we propose making the office of the Presidency less powerful. By separating the ceremonial duties of the head of state from the administrative functions of the head of government–and eliminating presidential immunity for both roles–we could enhance transparency, accountability, and prevent future abuses of power. This puts control in the hands of the people, not in an out of control executive.
Abolish the Electoral College
We must guarantee all Americans have an equal voice in presidential elections and create a truly democratic process for the world’s first democracy. Ending the influence of the Electoral College is one of the ways we do it, and passing an amendment is the way we make the change stick. By electing the President via popular vote, we enhance the fairness of our elections and end the danger of minority rule. By passing a Constitutional amendment, we make that change permanent. Take Democracy Back is committed to advocating for the reforms needed to achieve this goal, whether through interstate compact or Constitutional amendment.
End Minority Rule in the Senate
The current structure of the Senate gives the majority of the seats (52) to states representing 22% of the population. This structure is unrepresentative and undemocratic, leading to a government that doesn’t reflect the people it governs. Drastic reform is necessary to democratize the Senate. We must ensure that representation aligns with the population and we must end minority rule. Measures such as adjusting the allocation of Senate seats or other structural reforms can address these disparities, creating a legislature that genuinely reflects all the people and not just a powerful minority.
Make Your Voice Heard
Want to contribute to saving democracy? Join us. We have work to do.