THE POLITICAL ADVISORY PANEL OF AMERICA (PAPA)

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Despite the great construct for a republic documented in the U.S. Constitution, and more than 200 years to perfect it, America is witnessing deterioration of its original design. Voter turnout averaged only 50% in recent national elections (2002-2018, Ballotpedia.org). Some say Congress is dysfunctional, if not broken. Today, America is again a divided nation. To fix these problems, we DON’T need to undo the U.S. Constitution. We need to make the broken pieces work as originally intended - to continue to sustain a great nation. We must return to what President Abraham Lincoln called  'a whole America'. 

The relationship between legislators and their constituents is broken. The Constitution makes NO MENTION of political parties, yet today they yield power over Congress - millions say more power than voters.  Presidents as early as George Washington expressed the potential for greater harm than good to come from political parties. Yet lazy voters and legislators have let political parties step between us, robbing us of the trust and unity of purpose the framers intended our relationship to nurture. 

Citizens need a solution to develop a closer relationship with members of Congress - to better influence legislators’ votes, and to hold the legislative branch accountable. 

Legislators need a solution to overcome the difficulties of communicating and maintaining relationships with an expanding voting population – to reconnect directly with their constituents. 

We must turn to the Constitution for solutions and for healing divisions in America. Voters must provide oversight for Congress, as Congress provides oversight for the executive branch.  President Lincoln stated “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” 

The proposed solution is to establish the Political Advisory Panel of America (PAPA).  It will be an online solution based on transparency and trust, using secure modern technologies to strengthen the constitutional roles for elected representatives and voters.  PAPA will directly reconnect legislators with their constituents – minimizing the need for intermediaries such as political parties and the press. 

The proposed Political Advisory Panel of America will attack the highlighted problems on three fronts: 

1. ORGANIZATION:  PAPA will reestablish the framers’ intended relationship between Congress and its constituency. PAPA will enable each legislator to hold  virtual and continuous town hall meetings with their constituents. 

2. COMMUNICATIONS:  PAPA will go beyond providing an easy method for constituents to advise their legislators in both houses of Congress. It will insert the ability to aggregate, then publish consolidated constituent input on nearly any congressional business - while preserving the privacy between voters and representatives.  The consolidated advice to legislators published for constituents' view will enable citizens to further build trust and better evaluate their legislators.   

3. APPRAISAL:  PAPA's consolidated ‘metrics’ will help constituents evaluate the voting record of their elected officials in three ways.  First, PAPA will facilitate comparing legislators' voting records to their stated positions on issues.  Second,  PAPA will compare those same voting records to summarized constituent input received by each legislator through PAPA on those same issues. And third, PAPA's congressional ‘scorecards’ will allow constituents to judge if their elected representatives are reflecting the will of constituents, courting special interest groups, or bowing to pressure from a political party. These ongoing evaluations will enable voters to provide better oversight of Congress than simply casting a ballot every two or four years.

Perhaps two of the greatest outcomes from instituting the Political Advisory Panel of America will be: 

1. Greater citizen interest and more frequent citizen participation in their government, and 

2. Legislators’ acting more as fiduciaries for their constituents – placing the public good (the good of the country) above their own wishes and their party’s desires. 

The Political Advisory Panel of America will deliver voting citizens structure, and transparency tools NOT available via current advisory methods. PAPA will help tip the balance of advisory input received by legislators towards constituents and away from lobbyists, special interest groups, and political parties. PAPA will help legislators concentrate on securing votes from their voters rather than pursuing dollars from donors. 

PAPA's benefits will help maximize influence on legislation by those that hold the power of the vote, while minimizing influence from those who promise money and positions of power in exchange for legislation.   PAPA will transform Congress into a legislative body that can more quickly generate bills for the President’s signature - bills that are more aligned with the needs of the people.

If the highlighted problems are not corrected, or if Congress is only willing to work ‘the edges’ of the problems or address only their symptoms; citizens can expect more of the same unsatisfactory behaviors by elected officials and their appointees, more severe consequences, and more factions creating deeper divisions inciting more turmoil in our country.  And without correction, citizens’ abandonment of their role in government will likely deteriorate further.  But the Political Advisory Panel of America can reverse these trends. 

The U.S. Constitution bestows a great privilege upon its citizens – the privilege of voting for their representatives in Congress. The states regulate how citizens execute that privilege. But without proper oversight of Congress that PAPA can deliver, citizens have a lower probability of their voices being reflected in the votes of their elected representatives. PAPA will fill the oversight gap by improving the opportunity for elected representatives to reflect the will of the people. 

 Whether instituted as a government or privately run panel, PAPA will unite the voices of the people peacefully, constructively, and fairly – just as a good ‘papa’ would encourage us to do.   The Political Advisory Panel of America will shine more transparency on the legislative process, giving citizens more trust in their government.  With more transparency and more trust will come more citizen involvement and the hope for better representation.    

It is time for CITIZENS to peacefully instigate a major improvement in how they are represented.  It is time for a functional constitutional republic.  Instituting PAPA will help citizens better advise their congressional representatives on nearly all bills and resolutions, and help citizens make more informed decisions during general elections. Neither a democracy nor a republic is a spectator ‘sport’. CITIZENS must play their part and perform their role in their federal government (and state and local governments).  Citizens must recognize threats to the Constitution and fight to fix the problems. Just as Congress and Presidents have formed committees, departments, and agencies to help execute their legislative and executive branch responsibilities; so too must the Political Advisory Panel of America be formed to help citizens better perform their civic responsibility and fill their oversight role of Congress.

Read the details of the proposal contained in this website, www.PoliticalAdvisoryPanelOfAmerica.org. If you support the proposal, alert your family, friends, and media outlets to this proposal and this website. Post links on your favorite social media. Help start a ‘grass roots’ effort to improve our representation in Congress through the Political Advisory Panel of America. Begin conversations with your elected representatives concerning your personal frustrations with representation, and advise them of the PAPA solution - as well as your personal support for it. Elected officials in all levels of government need to be connected to their constituency.