A System Designed to Fail Us
Here's what most people feel but can't quite name: the problem isn't "the other side." The problem is a two-party system fueled by money that rewards extremism and punishes compromise. The incentives are broken — not the people.
The results are predictable:
Research confirms what we already sense: average citizens have almost no measurable impact on what government actually does. The system isn't broken by accident. It's working exactly as the incentives dictate. But when our agreements for self-governance are failing us, we can make new ones.
George Washington Warned Us about Parties
We revere the architects of American democracy. But we've forgotten their sharpest warning: political parties would destroy the republic.
Founders designed a system built on debate, compromise, and citizen deliberation — and they expected future generations to keep innovating. Instead, we got exactly the disease they feared most.
The good news? The American people do value innovation. We've demonstrated creative brilliance, resolve, and perseverance, time and time again. It's time we turn that attention to how we self-govern.
"The alternate domination of one faction over another … is itself a frightful despotism."
— George Washington"A division of the republic into two great parties … is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil."
— John Adams"Political parties are the 'most fatal disease' of popular governments."
— Alexander HamiltonProof It Works: Ordinary Citizens, Extraordinary Results
What happens when you give real citizens real power over real decisions? Ireland tried it — and the results are worth examining.
Ireland's Citizens' Assembly on Abortion
2016–2018 · One of the most divisive issues in Irish society
99 randomly selected citizens — a cross-section of Irish society across age, gender, geography, and belief — spent five weekends hearing from medical experts, legal scholars, and women with lived experience.
Many arrived undecided or conservative. Through structured deliberation, they reached a recommendation far bolder than any politician had dared propose.
The national referendum that followed passed in a landslide — and the process was remarkably peaceful. The assembly had already done the hard work of reconciliation.
- 99 randomly selected citizens
- Diverse on politics, age, gender, race, income
- Met over 5 weekends
- Reached 87% unity on their decision
- The national vote followed … 66% voted Yes
What We're Building
Hope for Democracy runs three interlocking efforts — each designed to support the others.
Spark the Conversation
Most Americans have never considered democratic alternatives. We change that — through media and social media, storytelling, and public dialogue.
Foster Demonstrations of Alternatives
Fund and support hands-on experiences with citizen assemblies, deliberative polling, and other proven approaches, and amplify their potential.
Pull the Lever
Build cross-partisan voting coalitions in swing districts that give citizens real power over candidates.
How a Few Hundred Citizens Can Change Everything
It sounds impossible. But it's happened before — and the math is simpler than you think.
That's all the NRA had as members at its peak influence. They stopped gun control for decades — even when 70% of Americans supported it. Their secret? Members spanned both parties and voted as a disciplined bloc. A tiny cross-partisan group overwhelmed the majority, when candidates feared their wrath.
We're applying the same arithmetic to a different end. In competitive districts decided by razor-thin margins, a small coalition of citizens — Republican, Democrat, and Independent — who commit to voting together can hold the balance of power.
Held by just 3,200 votes. A cross-partisan coalition of ~1,100 organized citizens would have held the balance of power.
The race that decided control of the PA House. Just ~350 citizens could have swung the outcome.
The deal is simple: citizens who've witnessed or participated in a legitimate deliberative process commit to vote together for whichever candidate pledges to follow the district's voice, giving teeth to deliberative processses that are operated independently of the partisan morass. Candidates who refuse lose organized votes. Those who commit gain cross-partisan support.
And while "election reform" has never reached the table as a top reform, we believe this is a very different story — far more revolutionary and visceral than advocating within the system for tweaks of the system. This is about the people taking back their power.
A Virtuous Cycle
Each success makes the next one easier.
Conversation spreads awareness and creates demand for experiments. Experiments prove common ground is real, attracting people to the lever. The lever's impact — elected officials actually listening — proves change is possible.
That proof restores hope. Hope fuels more conversation. The cycle accelerates.
Donors and volunteers arrive. The network grows. And the idea that citizens can govern themselves stops being idealistic — and starts being obvious.
How We're Different
Most Americans fighting for change are pushing against a wall. Hard, necessary work — but the wall doesn't seem to move.
Hope for Democracy is opening a door, with a very different approach.
| Approach | Working within existing structures | Working outside existing structures |
|---|---|---|
| Replace the decision-making system | Citizen juries or assemblies commissioned by a city or county government |
Hope for Democracy
Proof that better self-governance is possible. Citizens take their power back — by working across the political divide, outside the corrupt system.
|
| Tweak the existing process (but keep fundamentals) | Lobbying for elections reform — e.g. Citizens United, Electoral College, term limits | Media campaigns or strategy convenings for better process — e.g. campaign finance, term limits |
| Better candidates, parties, and policies, within existing process |
|
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Our highest vision: If enough Americans come to see that the current system is just one option — chosen by agreement, and replaceable by agreement — we believe a supermajority could demand something better. Not reform. Replacement — with deliberative democracy at the center of a new civic operating system.
Cross-Partisan by Structure, Not Slogan
Everything we do must be balanced across the political divide. The voting coalitions only have leverage if they span liberal and conservative — that's the entire mechanism. A coalition of only progressives has zero additional power; their votes are already locked in. The power comes from crossing the aisle.
So we don't just aspire to balance — we require it, structurally, at every level of the organization.
Funding
Every million capped at 50% from each side
Leadership
Actively recruiting a conservative co-Executive Director and bipartisan board members
Coalitions
Voting blocs must include balanced R, D, and Independent participation to have leverage
Every Experiment
Significant liberal + conservative participation in every initiative. Both sides, always.
Why I'm Doing This
I'm scared for my children. I look at the challenges ahead — climate, AI, institutional decay — and I see a political system that's not just failing, but accelerating toward failure.
But at MaestroConference, the company I founded and ran for 15 years, I got a glimpse of something. Some of our visionary facilitator customers were doing remarkable things — getting real people to real common ground. I've been turning it over ever since.
I've spent 25 years building systems that work at scale — at the Federal Reserve, at Charles Schwab, hosting millions of participants for the Obama Campaign, the White House, the World Bank, and hundreds of leading organizations.
Now I'm pursuing this 100%. I don't know that all of this will work. But I know it's worth putting all of my efforts towards.
But we need help. If you share my belief that this effort is worth investing in, will you invest your time, money or resources? And will you introduce us to other potential supporters?
This movement will only success if people stand up for our democracy. Will you? How? We'd love your support.
— Brian Burt, Founder
This Is Just the Beginning
We're raising seed funding and building a founding community. Here's how to take the next step.