How to Win Friends and Save the Republic

John Gable has worked with national political leaders and helped create a doorway to the internet; now he and his team at AllSides are helping Americans contextualize the news they consume and promote conversation without division. 

America's election structure was designed more than 250 years ago and a few tweaks have been made along the way, but it's time for some real innovation. Enter Katherine Gehl, a businesswoman with political chops who realized that we can remake our electoral system so that the success of elected officials is tied to the success of the lives of their constituents. 

Institute for Political Innovation

Katherine's TED Talk

We've all heard that "children are our future," but few organizations have connected that sentiment to democracy building like Generation Citizen. Their CEO Elizabeth Clay Roy shares with us her passion for education, civics, and the power of "action civics" to build a better democracy for tomorrow by starting with students of today. 

Every campaign is a learning opportunity, and the 2018 Voters Choice Massachusetts campaign was no exception. Nathan Lockwood and his colleagues took the lessons learned during that race and compiled them into a toolkit that can be used around the country to build the infrastructure needed to win reforms. We visit with Nathan and his colleague Monica Burke to discuss how that's playing out at Rank the Vote US.

From looking at the coalition behind More Choice San Diego, you might assume things came together effortlessly and overnight. Truth is, it took years of hard work and patient negotiation - as all good coalitions do. Chad Peace joins us to share his experience of working with the group and where they're at now.

Benjamin Singer, CEO of Show Me Integrity in Missouri, shares his compelling story finding purpose in democracy reform, not just for himself but quite literally for the lives of his friends, family, and neighbors. 

Following the Citizens United v FEC decision in 2010, attorney Jeff Clements began to strategize how to correct the mistakes that had been made. The ruling had opened the door to limitless money flowing unchecked into American politics. A decade later, Jeff and his colleagues at American Promise are well on their way to winning the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and ensuring that every American has an equal vote and an equal voice. 

Debilyn Molineaux's name is synonymous with cross-partisan bridge building and the importance of civil dialogue in a democratic society. In this episode with visit with Debilyn about her path from advertising to being a candidate for public office to co-founding some of the most influential bridging organizations in the democracy ecosystem. 

John Palmer works in finance; his friend, Bruce Goldberg, works in health care. Although their careers have little to do with politics or political reform, over time they came to realize that American democracy was broken and the only way to save it was by reform the system. We sat down with John and Bruce to better understand why they believe reform is necessary and hear what their experience has taught them about the community.

Francis Johnson, president of Take Back Our Republic, joins the show to share how his exposure to the political machine at an early age shaped his career in politics and, eventually, to a position of trying to reform democracy.