Democracy in Egypt & America - the Beat Goes On

KRESKY LATEST ARTICLE

• Democracy and the Institutions of Democracy (Harry Kresky, Huffington Post) Significantly, the first institution the pundits call for in Egypt is political parties. But here in America the people are fed up with the role the parties are playing in our democracy.

ALSO IN THE NEWS:
There is a new mayor in Chicago, as Rahm Emanuel beat out six other candidates with 55 percent of the vote in a tactically perfect campaign.


Independents in Arizona are making politics difficult in The Grand Canyon State with a whopping 31.7 of total indies there; being responsible for a large chunk of the 7.5 percent dip for the GOP and 6.8 percent for the dems since 2001.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Editorial: Politics getting more difficult (The Daily Courier) One thing is for certain: with more and more people abandoning the Republican and Democratic parties for independent status, it makes the job of the well-known parties that much more difficult.
• Make U.S. Politics Safe for Moderates (William A. Galston, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies; Elaine Kamarck, Public Policy Lecturer, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University - BROOKINGS) The primary electorate is a small, unrepresentative portion of the overall electorate. In the highly visible 2010 election season, for example, only 7.5 percent of all voting-age Americans took part in congressional primaries — actually higher than in past years. This primary electorate is dominated by the parties’ base voters — which is not true in general elections. That’s why so many Americans say they are unhappy with their choices in November.
  
• Chicago Votes in Emanuel as Mayor (BY: DAVID CHALIAN AND TERENCE BURLIJ, PBS NewsHour) Galston and Kamarck propose getting rid of the closed primary system, arguing it enables the extremes of both parties to determine the nominees. They instead call for open primaries, or as California now does, one primary for all the candidates, and have the top two finishers, regardless of party affiliation, face off in the general election.

NATIONAL REFORM

• National Popular Vote Plan Pushers Hire New Lobbyists, Bring on Deep-Pocketed Help (By Michael Beckel, Center for Responsive Politics/Open Secrets blog) National Popular Vote's legislative proposal -- which requires a state's electors to cast their votes for the winner of the national popular vote instead of the winner of the state-wide vote -- has been adopted in states representing about a quarter of the Electoral College.

CONNECTICUT

• What It Takes To Be A Registrar - Politics Play Out In Registrar's Office (WFSB Channel 3 Hartford - CNN) "I receive a memo one time that said if a Democrat came into the office, I could not serve that Democratic voter, yet still the office is nonpartisan," she said.

MONTANA

• Supporting bison (By Ilona Popper, LETTER Helena MT Independent Record) Your “party lines” alienate Republicans, Democrats, and independent voters, like me.

NEW YORK

• Our view: Independent redistricting the way to go - AT ISSUE: Tell state lawmakers that ‘gerrymandered’ districts unacceptable (EDITORIAL Utica Observer-Dispatch) For obvious reasons, legislators have never really embraced the idea of independent redistricting, but this time the governor is holding better cards.
• Senate Dems Urge GOP ‘Keep Your Reform Promises’ (John Toscano, Queens Gazette) Gianaris, an ardent advocate of independent redistricting while he served in the Assembly, stated: “For too long, the people of New York have been shut out from unaccountable representation.” He said the enactment of his bill will send a strong message that we hear the calls of a public restless for change and are ready to rise to the occasion.