Promising Stories

Most Recent Stories:

Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy | June 3, 2020

After two years of study, research, and nearly 50 community meetings with hundreds of Americans from different demographic and political backgrounds around the nation, the Commission on the Practice of... Read more

America’s Broken Heart | June 1, 2020

The police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor break our hearts. The devastation of their families and so many families and communities breaks our hearts. Our catastrophic failure to overcome racism and murderous, racist hate, breaks our hearts. To be an American is hard. Sometimes, to believe in the American promise is hard. That promise is that every human being has equal, inalienable rights and liberty; that every American citizen has an equal right and... Read more

Taking the Long View in a Crisis: It’s Time to Fix the Rules So the Future has a Voice | May 19, 2020

An internationally renowned futurist and business strategist, Peter Schwartz specializes in scenario planning, working with corporations, governments, and other institutions to create alternative perspectives of the future and develop robust strategies for a changing and uncertain world. As senior vice president strategic planning for Salesforce, he directs policy… Read more

Donor Spotlight: Scott Wallace | May 7, 2020

Scott Wallace is a social change activist, philanthropist, and former attorney who ran to represent Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District in 2018. During that election, Scott saw firsthand the effects of political spending from malicious, sometimes untraceable, sources. He has since become a supporter of American Promise and attended… Read more

On Wisconsin! 17 More Communities Join Call for an Amendment | May 5, 2020

[caption id="attachment_5717" align="alignright" width="383"] Wisconsin United to Amend advocates gather outside the Capitol in Madison.[/caption] Grassroots efforts across the United States are key to the success of the 28th Amendment. One model of locally grown success can be found in Wisconsin, where 17 communities recently voted yes on… Read more

Meet Alexandra Bixler: Ready to Empower Americans to Make Change | May 5, 2020

An accomplished researcher and editor, new American Promise Political Research Intern Alexandra Bixler hopes to use her skills to help grow the movement for the 28th Amendment and empower all Americans to get involved—including more young people. Cornell University student Alexandra Bixler is passionate about empowering Americans, including… Read more

Judy Nagel: Getting Big Money Out of Politics Will Speed Economic Recovery After the Pandemic | April 30, 2020

Recently, Judy Nagel wrote an op-ed in the Wisconsin State Journal discussing how ending pay-to-play politics can help reestablish competition and innovation in our economy, a desperately needed shift as we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic. Nagel is a former Vice President-Investment Officer of Wells Fargo Advisors. She… Read more

Citizen Leaders Drive Amendment Resolution in the Minnesota Senate | April 22, 2020

American Promise citizen leaders across the nation are using a step-by-step strategy to effect important local change that will build to national ratification of an amendment to end the domination of big money in our political system. In a recent victory, Minnesota citizen leaders transformed a simple meeting… Read more

Devin Hiett: The 28th Amendment Will Empower Young Americans | April 22, 2020

Devin Hiett is an American Promise citizen leader and a recent international studies and journalism graduate from the University of Oklahoma. A Texas native, Devin currently lives and works in Washington, D.C. Devin wrote this op-ed in The Fulcrum to highlight the connection between low voter participation among… Read more

Climate Change and Big Money in Politics | April 21, 2020

Although the overwhelming majority of Americans of every political persuasion support government action to mitigate climate change, the fossil fuel industry’s massive financial contributions to influence policy keep our nation from making meaningful change—leaving us lagging behind other leading nations in jobs, energy security and economics. As the… Read more

Voting in Times of National Crisis | April 8, 2020

Amid the uncertainty that the pandemic has created around the world, Americans hold fast to the critical importance of one key facet of our democracy: the right to representative government that reflects the wishes of we the people. Even, or perhaps especially, in times of crisis, we have… Read more

A Passion for Independence: An Alaskan Shares Why the 49th State May Be the 21st to Call for the 28th Amendment | April 7, 2020

The upcoming Better Elections Initiative was driven by Alaska citizens, who delivered tens of thousands of signatures to guarantee its spot in the 2020 Alaska ballot. In this Q&A, Juneau lawyer and American Promise citizen leader Joe Geldhof shares why Alaskans are so engaged in self-government, and why… Read more

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Special Content Pages:

Keep the Promise: America250

America is in crisis. The convergence in 2020 of the Covid-19 pandemic and the interrelated crises of economy, racial justice, political violence, climate disasters, and a collapse of trust has laid bare the danger and high stakes we Americans now face. Our constitutional democracy and commitment to the American promise of human liberty, equal citizenship, and effective self-government are in urgent need of repair and renewal. Read More

#ChallengeAccepted: The American Promise Amendment + Reinventing Democracy for the 21st Century

Americans are in a huge moment of possibility for profound reform, and in that we can find hope. In the midst of systemic failures—in our economy, society, government—American citizens are rising to the challenge of reshaping our democracy for the 21st century and beyond. Read More

Building Support in Congress

Passing a constitutional amendment is difficult by design: the only way to achieve it is with widespread, cross-partisan support driven by grassroots action. While there are two routes to passing a constitutional amendment, only one method has ever been successfully used—acquiring two-thirds support from both houses of Congress and approval by three-quarters of the states. Read More

Money in Politics and Health Care

Big money political spending affects all facets of our society, including our nation’s health-care system. Lobbying from health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and other health care-related interests has resulted in a dysfunctional system that is more expensive and provides less coverage than those in other developed countries. Read more

A History of People Power

Throughout our nation’s history, citizen leaders have coalesced around reform movements that expand our fundamental rights to broader coalitions of Americans and improve our democratic self-governance—often through the amendment process. Read more

7 Critical Democracy Reforms: Which Are Most Important to You?

There are several election reforms at the core of the nascent democracy movement growing in the United States, and the prospect that we need to pass constitutional amendments to fix some of the structural issues is gaining traction. Read more

Citizen's United 10th Anniversary

In the decade since the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision, Americans have seen its devastating effects: Election spending by the wealthiest individuals and untraceable dark money groups has skyrocketed, faith in our representative democracy is historically low, and legislative outcomes don’t represent the wishes of Americans, but rather serve the interests of the wealthy elite. Read more
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