Political Reform Program: Latest Articles

America's House of Lords Debates Health Care

The health care debate has been like a tennis match, bouncing from the Senate to the House and back again. Now it's back in the Senate, as the United States tries to end its status as the only advanced economy without universal health care for its people. One hundred Senators from 50 states will decide what lives and what dies, health-care wise. With so much at stake, it makes sense to ask: who are these 100 Senators? Might that give us a clue as… more
Steven Hill | History News Network | November 20, 2009

Better and Cheaper Elections for Vancouver

The most expensive mayoral race in Vancouver's history is over. The bad news: It took two elections, hundreds of thousands of dollars and a fair amount of mud-slinging to produce a winner. The good news: Vancouver has the ability to cut election costs and campaign spending as well as restore civility to the electoral process in one fell swoop.

Blair Bobier | The Oregonian | November 6, 2009

A Radical Solution for California's Intractable Woes

"Are you ready to put on your white wigs?" That is a question I have been posing lately to many everyday Californians, as the Golden State considers if a constitutional convention composed of regular folks might hold the solution to California's ongoing political and budgetary woes.

The Problem Is Minority Rule

The health care drama in the U.S. Senate is cresting. After months of hearings--and decades of dithering--it is time to see if the United States is going to remain the only advanced industrial nation in the world that does not provide universal health care.

Steven Hill | NYTimes.com | October 13, 2009

Health-Care Cooperatives Can Work

Health-care cooperatives have gotten a bad rap. But if properly designed, they could offer quite a lot to both the left and the right, as well as to anyone interested in expanding health-care coverage and reducing costs.

Steven Hill | Washington Post | October 12, 2009