A Non-Partisan Solution?

“Fixing our political system is not a Democratic issue. It’s not a Republican issue. It’s an American issue,” declared Josh Silver, the executive director and co-founder of RepresentUs, in a virtual talk to the Groton School community on September 22.

“We will only win at scale if people put aside their partisan and ideological differences and unite around this common cause of fixing American democracy” he continued. “Liberals, moderates, and conservatives all agree that the system is broken, and common-sense reforms like ranked-choice voting, campaign finance reform, and anti-gerrymandering are essential to the survival of the American experiment.”

To kick off political activity at Groton this school year, the Young Republicans and Young Democrats clubs sought to bring in a speaker who could deliver a compelling vision for the future of America to the student body. Silver—whose career has focused on initiatives to reduce corruption in Washington and beyond—made his message clear to an audience composed of community members from both sides of the aisle: If the United States wants to continue leading on the world stage, it has to make some changes at home.

A non-partisan patriot, Silver began his presentation by outlining a few of the problems threatening our nation. For example, 86 percent of all Congressional districts have been “rendered uncompetitive” by gerrymandering. The two-party duopoly dominates American politics despite 41 percent of Americans identifying as independent. America’s educational system has “fallen behind.” Silver hit on these issues and more, but he did so in a way that was anything but pessimistic.

“So many causes have faced insurmountable obstacles in Washington, DC, and [their advocates have] prevailed by taking the fight to the states. It was how women secured the right to vote, same sex marriage was legalized, and marijuana was decriminalized,” Silver said. “Democracy reform must follow the same path, and recent victories in states across America show that it’s not just possible … it’s happening right now.”

Both a visionary and a pragmatist, Silver identifies policies that would have “political impact” and “political viability” before campaigning for them to appear on ballots around the country. In other words, he targets ideas that could improve government, but also garner public support.

One of Silver’s favorite reforms is ranked-choice voting, which is on the ballot in both Massachusetts and Alaska this year. Many think voting for a person outside of the Republican or Democratic sphere—a third-party candidate—is “a throw-away,” leading to a government saturated with politicians who may place their party before their country. By allowing voters to rank their candidates by order of preference, ranked-choice voting reallocates a citizen’s vote to their second choice if their top one is mathematically eliminated from contention. With ranked-choice voting, no one would have to settle for a lackluster, party-driven politician again.

With a strategy that seeks to influence state and local law, as opposed to federal law, RepresentUs hopes to bypass Congressional gridlock by investing time and effort into your own backyard. On a city-by-city basis, RepresentUs champions laws that could eliminate excessive lobbying and political polarization, but—as Silver stressed—they need the help of the youth to be most effective.

“There is a seismic shift happening in America,” Silver said, explaining that a new generation is beginning to shape American politics as Baby Boomers age. “And good that they do: our system needs a major overhaul, and it will require young people of all political stripes stand up and be counted.”

Silver frequently referred to the power of voters under twenty-five. In the upcoming election, only a small fraction of people from that demographic are actually expected to vote—which is something that RepresentUs believes policies like universal vote-by-mail, open primaries, and ranked-choice voting could amend one day.

To close his speech, Silver let the students know that, together, they could be an instrumental player on the national stage and, as individuals, they could be the leaders of tomorrow that our nation is desperately in search of. It was a hopeful message, and Silver brought the school together at a time when the rest of the world seems to be pulling people apart. — Trey Whitehead ’21

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