Exactly five years ago I emailed the first Speak Up for Good Government newsletter to a small group of recipients.
I started with nine basic principles to guide my work. Those principles have since been refined and consolidated to eight "good government" principles.
A couple of months later, I created a web page that serves as a repository for my work. It contains Speak Up for Good Government's mission, houses my newsletter and associated publications, and provides links to organizations and resources that support my principles.
Surprisingly the scope and focus of my work has not changed and the principles continue to effectively guide my work. I continue to believe that those principles provide a viable framework for Congress to function effectively.
I have learned a lot during the first five years of this journey and have met and collaborated with some amazing people and organizations.
Nonetheless, we remain very far from acheiving my mission of "improving the effectiveness of our federal government by reducing legislative gridlock and empowering the public to impact and inform federal legislation".
Simply put, there is insufficient counterbalance to the forces that cause our elected officials to prioritize party loyalty, their donors, and the next election over the interests of their constituents and our country.
I am convinced that in order to offset or counter these negative forces and make progress on all eight of my good government principles, there needs to be a citizen-led movement that provides the cover and impetus our representatives need to reorder their priorities. The citizen-led movement should compel elected officials to act on the input of their constituents and it should promote a bipartisan approach to governing. That's why I feel that the work of Braver Angels and the emerging collaboration between Braver Angels and Voice of the People are so important.
We cannot continue to accept a federal government that shuts down, can't pass a budget, and fails to enact common-sense legislation to address critical problems. The emerging model of courageous citizenship being promoted by Braver Angels is designed to empower Americans to constructively engage with each other, constructively engage with our elected officials, and model the behavior we expect from Congress.
If we can leverage the overriding spirit of respect and collaboration that I've described above, my other six principles can provide an engine for Congress to operate the way I believe most Americans want it to operate, effectively solving problems and promoting health, safety, and prosperity.
There is a lot to be concerned and frustrated about. But I do believe that momentum is building for the type of change I'm articulating. So despite the lack of progress in the first five years of my good government journey, I remain hopeful that positive change is possible.
