The Future
Re-imagining and repairing democracy
Here is a collection of people, organizations, and ideas focused on solutions to the challenges facing our democracy. We’re sharing them as inspiration and food for thought as we imagine and shape the future together.
Elections
Run for Something
Run for Something manages the biggest candidate pipeline in Democratic politics, filled with young, diverse progressives who truly represent the people. You can help build this bench and together we’ll put an end to politics as usual.
Swing Left
Swing Left is a group that aims to gain Democratic majorities in US legislatures by mobilizing volunteers and donors in swing districts. It was founded in 2017 after the election of Donald Trump and merged with Flippable in 2019.
Government & Policy Reform
The Urban Institute
Urban is a trusted source for changemakers seeking to create a world where everyone has the opportunity and power to thrive.
By the People
By the People, for the People is a people-centric initiative where Americans deliberate to reimagine their democratic constitutional republic so that it better serves them based on how they determine their needs and interests.
Common Cause
Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for government reform and accountability in the political process. Founded in 1970, it focuses on issues like voting rights, ethics, and reducing the influence of money in politics.
Peoples Policy Project
The People’s Policy Project’s research areas include progressive healthcare policies, housing, climate change, and economic systems. The Organization is left-leaning in its policy proposals, focusing primarily on socialist and social-democratic policy ideas.
Sunrise Movement
We are the climate revolution. We believe everyone should have access to clear air and water, full pantries of food, affordable housing, free public transportation, good and meaningful jobs, vibrant community centers, and lives filled with joy.
Access to Higher Education
College Promise
College Promise is a national, nonpartisan, non-profit organization that aims to ensure all students in the United States can access the education, training and support necessary to achieve their educational and economic aspirations. College Promise works with organizations nationwide to provide scholarships covering tuition, fees, and other educational costs, along with essential support services that equip students to succeed on their college and career journeys. They are raising awareness for tuition and barrier-free college in America.
Is Free College a Good Idea?
“In today’s polarized environment, the free college idea stands out for its bipartisan support. A majority of self-identified Republicans has supported the notion of free college in some polls. In fact, one of the first such statewide programs was put in place by Bill Haslam, the former Republican governor of Tennessee.”
Civics Awareness
Peoples Project:28
Reclaiming A Government for the People by the People
Health Care for Everyone
American Public Health Association
APHA serves as a convenor, catalyst and advocate to build capacity in the public health community. We champion optimal, equitable health and well-being for all. We speak out for public health issues and policies backed by science. We are the only organization that combines a 150-year perspective, a broad-based member community and the ability to influence federal policy to improve the public’s health.
Money Out of Politics
Make the Voters Donors
Make Voters the Donors is a cross-partisan movement to put the American people in charge of our government. Our mission is clear: make voters the donors. We are leading the charge to reclaim our government from the grip of big money. Our goal is to pass the Voter Dollars plan: a solution that gives every voter the means to financially support candidates who truly represent them. It’s common sense. Whoever pays the piper calls the tune. If we want a government that works for us, we the people must become the donors.
American Promise
American Promise is a nonpartisan organization that advocates for a constitutional amendment to limit the influence of money in politics and restore equal citizenship. Learn about the For Our Freedom amendment, sign the pledge, and get involved in your state.
Think Tanks
These organizations work on promoting democratic values, civil liberties, and effective governance.
Brookings
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: strengthen American democracy, foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans, secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system. The research agenda and recommendations of Brookings’s experts are rooted in open-minded inquiry and its scholars represent diverse points of view. More than 200 resident and non-resident fellows research issues; write books, papers, articles and opinion pieces; testify before congressional committees and participate in dozens of public events each year.
Berggruen Institute
Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. The challenges that inspired the creation of the institute have only become more urgent overtime: the crisis of democratic governance; the growing inequality exacerbated by the digital age; the emergence of China upending the post-war global order; the planetary crisis of climate change. These challenges force us to reconsider the foundational ideas that our contemporary institutions embody, including what it means to be human. These challenges and the questions they provoke have become the pillars of our work.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace generates strategic ideas and independent analysis, supports diplomacy, and trains the next generation of scholar-practitioners to help countries and institutions take on the most difficult global problems and advance peace.
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. Our aim is not just to change the conversation, but to change the country.
Atlantic Council
The Atlantic Council promotes constructive leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the Atlantic Community’s central role in meeting global challenges. The Council provides an essential forum for navigating the dramatic economic and political changes defining the twenty-first century by informing and galvanizing its uniquely influential network of global leaders. The Atlantic Council—through the papers it publishes, the ideas it generates, the future leaders it develops, and the communities it builds—shapes policy choices and strategies to create a more free, secure, and prosperous world.