Democracy Matters
Encyclopedia
Democracy Matters is a non-profit, non-partisan
grassroots student political organization that is dedicated to deepening democracy. Democracy Matters advocates for public financing of election campaigns and other pro-democracy reforms in order to get big private and corporate money out of elections and people back in. On-campus student chapters do outreach for education and mobilization.
alumnus
Adonal Foyle
, with the assistance of his adoptive parents Jay Mandle (professor
of economics
at Colgate) and Joan Mandle (associate professor of sociology. anthropology and women's studies at Colgate).
The NBA recognized Foyle for his commitment to democracy with nationally televised presentations of their “Community Assist Award.” The Greenlining Institute
presented him with their prestigious Change Agent Award for his commitment to campaign finance reform. And he received the City of San Francisco’s Sports Hero Award. as well as many other awards and commendations for his work increasing the civic engagement of young people.
Foyle’s commitment to Democracy Matters has also been widely hailed in the press, including in The New York Times
, Sports Illustrated
, USA Today
, The Nation, Congressional Quarterly
, Mother Jones
, ESPN Magazine
, the Chicago Tribune Magazine
as well as numerous local newspapers.
Foyle is passionate about activating young people to be civically and politically engaged. In an op-ed piece, Foyle recounted the tremendous energy and creativity Democracy Matters students have brought to the work of deepening democracy.
, civil rights
, foreign policy, and rising college tuition
.
The slogans for Democracy Matters are Change Elections, Change America as well as Taking Money Out of Politics and Putting People Back In.
Public financing of election campaigns, similar to the successful state systems in Maine, Arizona and Connecticut also known as "Voter/Citizen-Owned Elections," or "Fair Elections" provide an alternative for a candidate to be publicly funded if she/he refuses to accept private donations from individuals or groups. This allows ordinary citizens, who lack the fiscal means, to run for office. It means that candidates can spend time talking with all voters, not just their big donors. And once elected, these publicly financed politicians are accountable to their constituents rather than to campaign contributors. Furthermore they can use their time working on issues important to the people they represent rather than spending many hours each day on the phone "dialing for dollars" or attending fundraisers.
Several questions not related to clean election or campaign finance reform appear in this quiz, including one that asks about the number of Americans without health insurance and has no follow-up questions tying healthcare reform to the organization's mission.
The Democracy Matters consistent response to this kind of critiques is that as is stated above, the issue of the domination of corporate money in the political process is directly related to social, economic and other policies affecting the American people. Thus the role of campaign contributions by individuals from HMOs or large health insurance companies and other corporations with business interests in affecting health care policy is widely accepted. The huge contributions made by financial institutions in order to fight the regulation of the finance industry is another case in point. The highly respected and frequently cited Center for Responsive Politics offers data on extensive data on campaign contributions to federal candidates that corroborate these claims.
Furthermore, being non-partisan means not endorsing candidates. Democracy Matters does not endorse candidates. But we proudly take political positions on important social and political issues. That is not a partisan bias—it is acting as responsible engaged citizens in a democracy. We state out views openly rather than hiding behind anonymity.
The anonymous author also cites a question regarding the percentage of contributions that come from "non-Hispanic, White zip codes" as unfounded profiling and reverse-racism, accusing the organization of targeting Caucasian individuals simply because some may or may not be wealthy.
Democracy Matters response is that this claim that white, wealth individual contribute much more money to political campaigns than to people of color is an empirical statement, and has nothing to do with so-called "targeting." This data may be reviewed by going to the government's website linked to the Federal Election Commission.
Partisan (political)
In politics, a partisan is a committed member of a political party. In multi-party systems, the term is widely understood to carry a negative connotation - referring to those who wholly support their party's policies and are perhaps even reluctant to acknowledge correctness on the part of their...
grassroots student political organization that is dedicated to deepening democracy. Democracy Matters advocates for public financing of election campaigns and other pro-democracy reforms in order to get big private and corporate money out of elections and people back in. On-campus student chapters do outreach for education and mobilization.
Origins
The organization was founded in 2001 by former 13-year veteran NBA player and ColgateColgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
alumnus
Alumnus
An alumnus , according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a graduate of a school, college, or university." An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student. In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college,...
Adonal Foyle
Adonal Foyle
Adonal David Foyle is a retired Vincentian-American former professional basketball center. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the eighth overall selection of the 1997 NBA Draft. He played ten seasons with the team until the team bought out his contract on August 13, 2007. At the...
, with the assistance of his adoptive parents Jay Mandle (professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at Colgate) and Joan Mandle (associate professor of sociology. anthropology and women's studies at Colgate).
The NBA recognized Foyle for his commitment to democracy with nationally televised presentations of their “Community Assist Award.” The Greenlining Institute
Greenlining Institute
The Greenlining Institute is a public policy, research, and advocacy non-profit organization based in Berkeley, California. The Greenlining Institute's mission is to empower communities of color and other disadvantaged groups through multi-ethnic economic and leadership development, civil rights,...
presented him with their prestigious Change Agent Award for his commitment to campaign finance reform. And he received the City of San Francisco’s Sports Hero Award. as well as many other awards and commendations for his work increasing the civic engagement of young people.
Foyle’s commitment to Democracy Matters has also been widely hailed in the press, including in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, The Nation, Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is a privately owned publishing company that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress...
, Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
, ESPN Magazine
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, the Chicago Tribune Magazine
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
as well as numerous local newspapers.
Foyle is passionate about activating young people to be civically and politically engaged. In an op-ed piece, Foyle recounted the tremendous energy and creativity Democracy Matters students have brought to the work of deepening democracy.
Raising awareness
Democracy Matters members raise awareness and educate others on their campuses and in nearby communities by organizing campaigns that link public financing of election campaigns to other important issues such as the environmentEnvironmental protection
Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
, civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, foreign policy, and rising college tuition
Tuition
Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
.
The slogans for Democracy Matters are Change Elections, Change America as well as Taking Money Out of Politics and Putting People Back In.
Public financing of election campaigns, similar to the successful state systems in Maine, Arizona and Connecticut also known as "Voter/Citizen-Owned Elections," or "Fair Elections" provide an alternative for a candidate to be publicly funded if she/he refuses to accept private donations from individuals or groups. This allows ordinary citizens, who lack the fiscal means, to run for office. It means that candidates can spend time talking with all voters, not just their big donors. And once elected, these publicly financed politicians are accountable to their constituents rather than to campaign contributors. Furthermore they can use their time working on issues important to the people they represent rather than spending many hours each day on the phone "dialing for dollars" or attending fundraisers.
Claims of political bias
There have been occasional accusations of political bias made against the Democracy Matters organization. The latest of these claims was made through a series of anonymous commentary chain emails launched in early January 2010. The author of these emails cites the "Money In Politics Quiz" on the organization's official website.Several questions not related to clean election or campaign finance reform appear in this quiz, including one that asks about the number of Americans without health insurance and has no follow-up questions tying healthcare reform to the organization's mission.
The Democracy Matters consistent response to this kind of critiques is that as is stated above, the issue of the domination of corporate money in the political process is directly related to social, economic and other policies affecting the American people. Thus the role of campaign contributions by individuals from HMOs or large health insurance companies and other corporations with business interests in affecting health care policy is widely accepted. The huge contributions made by financial institutions in order to fight the regulation of the finance industry is another case in point. The highly respected and frequently cited Center for Responsive Politics offers data on extensive data on campaign contributions to federal candidates that corroborate these claims.
Furthermore, being non-partisan means not endorsing candidates. Democracy Matters does not endorse candidates. But we proudly take political positions on important social and political issues. That is not a partisan bias—it is acting as responsible engaged citizens in a democracy. We state out views openly rather than hiding behind anonymity.
The anonymous author also cites a question regarding the percentage of contributions that come from "non-Hispanic, White zip codes" as unfounded profiling and reverse-racism, accusing the organization of targeting Caucasian individuals simply because some may or may not be wealthy.
Democracy Matters response is that this claim that white, wealth individual contribute much more money to political campaigns than to people of color is an empirical statement, and has nothing to do with so-called "targeting." This data may be reviewed by going to the government's website linked to the Federal Election Commission.
Notable alumni
- Adonal Foyle, Colgate, NBA basketball player
- Daniel Weeks, Yale, New Haven City Councilmember
Foyle press releases
- So What Does Basketball Have to do with Campaign Finance Reform?
- Sports Illustrated - Adonal Foyle, Renaissance Man
- NYTimes.com - Our Athlete Speaks Up for the Right to Do That}
- The Nation - Where are the Jocks for Justice?
- Congressional Quarterly - Five Questions with Foyle
- ESPN - We the People
- Chicago Tribune - Foyle: Rising Activist
Chapter Links
Educational Links
- Bill Moyers - Lesson Plans on Campaign Finance Reform
- University of North Carolina - Links to Elementary & Secondary Lesson Plans
- OpenSecrets.org
Related organizations
- Public Citizen
- Public Campaign
- Clean Elections Institute (Arizona)
- Common Cause
- You Street
- Citizens for Clean Elections
- Clean Elections Rhode Island
- California Clean Money Campaign
- www.MAPLight.org
- Project Vote Smart