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Please note that "E - Domestic Security" is merged into C. Items that belong under Economics, like Social Security, are found in the Economic Sustainability chapter.]

I. DEMOCRACY

A. POLITICAL REFORM

The Green Party advances a comprehensive political reform agenda:

End Financial Corruption:

1. Political debate, public policy, and legislation should be judged on merit, not quid pro quo of political barter and interest purchasing.

2. Comprehensive campaign finance reform includes caps on spending and contributions at the national and state level as a step toward full public financing of elections to remove undue influence in political campaigns.

3. All viable candidates at the state and federal levels should have free and equal access to a regulated and neutral internet, to radio and television time, and to print press coverage.

4. We will ban or greatly limit political action committees and restrict soft money contributions.

5. We support:
   1. Strict control of lobbying. Disclose lobbying via "gifts" and money contributions.
   2. Access to Legislators' offices for all certified lobbying orgs.
   3. Strengthen power of Congressional Ethics committees to oversee and investigate performance of legislators.
   4. Sunshine laws that enforce transparency at all levels of government operations that are not executive and closed by law.
   5. Restore the power and reach of the Freedom of Informantion Act (FoIA) and reduce cost to citizen who uses the Act.
   6. Expand power of Government Accounting Office, GAO, beyond recommendation level.

B. ELECTION REFORM

1. Replace winner-Take-All with any of several systems.
   1. Proportional Representation.
   2. Cumulative voting or choice voting.
   3. Instant Run-off Voting.
   The merit of these election formulae is that they widen the range of choice; widen the ability for candidates to enter the race, break the 2-party system and enlarge the voting public.

2. Abolish the Electoral College - it distorts the popular vote and prevents the direct election of the President.

3. Make voting day a holiday and facilitate early voting.

4. Voter-verified paper audit trail for all voting machines must be installed across the United States. To prevent fraud, voting machine source code must be open for public inspection before and after the election.

C. LOCAL and STATE GOVERNMENT

1. Give more power to lesser bodies - give sub poena power to neighborhood councils, city and county councils and State legislatures, thus guaranteeing that each layer of government has oversight of the level above it government.

2. Redistricting - Support a Constitutional amendment that removes the re-districting power from the state legislatures and gives it to the Census Bureau - a non-partisan agency whose assignment is to count the number of citizens in each state every 10 years.

3. The right of initiative, referendum and recall belongs to all citizens in all states. Also, ward councils within a jurisdiction should have the collective power to put an initiative on the ballot. The cost of collecting petitions should be controlled by requiring that volunteers collect 50% of the signatures.

4. If voted for in a jurisdiction, "none-of-the-above" will be put on the ballot.

5. We support statehood for the District of Columbia. Give DC the same voting rights as every other state.

6. Non-violent civil disobedience should be recognized as a practice under the first amendment right of citizens to assemble and petition their government.

7. Federal and local laws that protect citizens in their practices of civil liberties and their constitutional rights must be enforced against abuse by federal and state agencies. Petitioners must not be intimidated, abused, surveilled or retaliated on by the government.

D. COMMUNITY

Think Globally but Act Locally -

1. Community is a basic component of Green politics. Community means shared activities and engagement in local economic, environmental and political life. In effect, participation in decisions is democracy in practice. Community includes of the range of citizens - young and old, rich and poor, all beliefs or no belief, all ethnic groups and all races sharing the local space..

2. Infrastructure in the neighborhood. a) Public support and control of the services of that facilitate and enrich the lives in a community create bonds that make a neighborhood out of the accident of location. b) In keeping with locally owned and used services, a critical need is an independent local media. This media informs the public of local events, advertises local business, supports a local art calendar and generally strengthens the bonds that makes neighbors out of people.

3. Another form of mutual dependence is, public transportation. Instead of one driver -one car, public transportation is a necessity for us to live and work together. .

4. Local public schools that children can walk to, is the best conduit to community life. This includes Head Start, Boys and Girls clubs, playgrounds and adult classes.

5. We oppose the militarization of our society and the military draft. Instead, we support a form of Civilian Conservation Corps that all youth can do for 2 yrs. and earn college money. Their work will clean and protect our environment, train the young in stewardship of the Earth and teach them responsibility. .

6. Let us remember E.F. Schumacher’s book, “Small Is Beautiful” in keeping with our Key Value, De-Centralization.