Empower the People, Restore Trust in Government

Common Dreams - A recent CBS News/New York Times poll confirmed what most of us already know: Trust in government is at an all-time low. According to the survey, nearly seven in 10 Americans feel they don’t have much say in what government does, and nearly four in five think our government is run by a few powerful interests. Just 18 percent think it is run for the benefit of all Americans.

This public mistrust affects all levels of government.

From city hall to the halls of Congress, important policy and spending decisions have been made for far too long by a handful of politicians behind closed doors, working in concert with corporations and special interests. This old way of doing the public’s business has bred anger and mistrust of all levels of government.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise, then, that only one out of five Americans trust government to do what’s right most of the time. They don’t believe their government listens to them and they don’t believe they have any power to affect public policy.

This public anger and mistrust isn’t healthy for our democracy. We need a new governance model that empowers people to make real decisions about important policy and spending. Read more.