Angry rhetoric, narrow partisanship, and leaders who appeal only to their base are all reasons why American politics is in urgent need of reform.

By huge majorities, the public has a negative view of Congress and believes the system is broken.

Our guest, 29-year-old Nick Troiano, Executive Director of Unite America, is a leading voice of the reform movement, who supports changes aimed at reducing gridlock, boosting voter participation, and finding common ground. "We are caught in a democracy that is spiraling in a very negative direction and the question before us is how do we break that," Nick tells us.

Among his solutions:

- End gerrymandering. Independent commissions, not partisan legislators, would decide the shape Congressional districts.

- Ranked-choice voting. Instead of choosing just one candidate, voters would have the option of ranking candidates according to their preference.

- Reform primary rules, and allow independents to vote in party primaries.

- Campaign finance reform. Allow small donors to have more influence at the expense shadowy "dark money" special interest groups.

- Encourage support for The Problem Solvers Caucus and other bipartisan coalitions in Congress and state legislatures.

- Voting reform. Expand polling hours, and legalize early and at-home voting. 

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