Opinion: Worried that elections just aren’t working anymore? Perhaps it’s time to expand Arizona’s political marketplace of ideas. Here’s how to start.
By Sarah Brown Smallhouse, Don Budinger, Ted Hinderaker and Si Schorr opinion contributors | Arizona Republic
Is there a crisis in our democracy? Are we failing to uphold core values like fairness, equality, opportunity and choice?
Do you believe it is fair to require some candidates for office to collect six times the number of signatures as other candidates to get on the ballot?
Do you think politics and government are going in the right direction?
Most voters in Arizona answer no.
Many of us have a sinking feeling about the strength of our democracy as America approaches its 250th birthday.
Until recently, we have mostly felt like our political system was working.
But now, to a growing number of us, it doesn’t feel like it. Is there a crisis in our democracy? Are we failing to uphold core values like fairness, equality, opportunity and choice?
We suggest one of the biggest problems today lies with the way we elect our representatives.
Elections are an uneven playing field
Like Thomas Jefferson said, “That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.”
In Arizona, election rules do not treat “every man” the same way. Our current partisan primary system, paid for by all taxpayers, excludes candidates not affiliated with a political party from participating.
