    
Bruce Sims
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Ubetchaiam
Post Number: 785
Registered: 06-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - 12:21 pm: | 
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A number of promising reforms have been proposed for making the American political system more representative and responsive—from independent redistricting, term limits, and open primaries to more modern electoral systems and public financing of campaigns—but all face the same obstacle: entrenched interests, including elected lawmakers, who benefit from the status quo. One means of removing partisanship and incumbent protectionism from the political reform process is known as a Citizens Assembly, which convenes a body of average citizens empowered to formally propose electoral reforms that politicians have too strong a conflict of interest to propose themselves. Already successfully employed in British Columbia, California’s legislature is now considering a Citizen Assembly measure of its own.
Full text here:
http://www.newamerica.net/index.cfm?pg=section&secID=47&SubID=46
here is the link for the actual legislation:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_0001-0050/aca_28_bill_20060125_introduced.pdf
And here is the inital press release:
http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/index.asp?Dist=38&Lang=1&Body=PressReleases&RefID=3083
(Message edited by ubetchaiam on May 16, 2006) |
