The James Madison Project
"So strong is this propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts."
James Madison Federalist 10
The 2022 Election: Of the People, By the People, and For the People
The 2022 election initiative will monitor candidates and parties messaging and behavior in the election process. It will provide information that may be relevant for decision making by voter. Issues such as Income Inequality, role in foreign policy, health care, financial challenges will be presented in a case presentation approach to strive to engage citizens for solution oriented expectations.
We seek to foster an informed and active electorate by providing voters with the information, opportunities for engagement, and skills they need to make informed political choices.
§ Government “by the people” depends on citizens having the information and skills needed to govern. Media must combat misinformation, expose voters to different points of view, inform the public debate, and engage citizens.
§ To create a more informed electorate, The James Madison Project will strengthen accountability journalism that holds political leaders accountable for what they say and provides voters with adequate context to draw conclusions about the choices in front of them. We cannot eliminate deception, but we can reduce its dissemination through media and call leaders to account for what they say.
§ At the local level, we will ensure the public has access to quality journalism by making resources available to support local news and experimenting with new models to ensure the financial sustainability of local public interest journalism. We will also work with media reformers to increase the diversity of viewpoints to which the public is exposed, and foster more sustainable and effective journalistic institutions.
§ Voters need to be armed with greater capacity to decipher political communications and The James Madison Project will explore scalable approaches to public deliberation, news literacy education, and platforms that encourage greater interaction with information and with other citizens.