The founding members of Election Reformers Network have worked to support hundreds of election processes in scores of countries over a thirty-year period, with organizations such as Democracy International, International Foundation for Electoral Systems, National Democratic Institute, and The Carter Center.
This work focused on supporting the range of institutions critical to democracy including civic organizations, political parties, election administration and legislative bodies. Our approach emphasized nonpartisanship and did not prioritize any particular country (such as the US) as a model.
We have seen how improving the rules of democracy can reduce polarization, increase citizen buy-in, and improve policy outcomes. We have seen countries with far worse divisions than our own make real progress through well thought-out reforms.
We believe this experience gives us three resources that are not commonly found among democracy advocates in the US:
– knowledge of the wide range of options in use among democracies around the world;
– a multi-partisan orientation that prioritizes solutions optimal across the political spectrum;
– confidence that reform can make a difference.