THE ISSUE
Governance
PUBLICATION
Is the Post Office Really Broken? If So, How Do We Fix It?
The typically staid and boring business of moving envelopes across the country has become a source of heated national debate. Is the U.S. Postal Service fundamentally broken and bankrupt as some of its most strident critics in Congress suggest? Or would it be fine if Congress just made a few fixes to bad policies they passed over the years?
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PUBLICATION
The Biggest Risk of Mail-In Voting? Not Fraud, But Logistical Chaos
In the 2020 election, there are legitimate concerns that state election systems might not be equipped to handle the deluge of absentee ballots. This issue brief examines the various challenges state election boards will face this year and discusses one way the federal government could ease these burdens and ensure the American people have confidence in the integrity of our election.
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PUBLICATION
Centering on Coronavirus: Voting During a Pandemic
“Voting During a Pandemic,” the second installment in The New Center’s “Centering on Coronavirus” policy series published on April 2, 2020, discusses the various implications of the coronavirus on our elections, how states have responded, and why a massive expansion of mail-in voting may be the only feasible way to conduct the November general election.
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PUBLICATION
The Supreme Court: Depoliticizing the Judiciary
Citizens should be able to trust the court to provide equal justice under the law no matter who sits on the bench. Restoring trust in the Supreme Court requires structural changes to diminish the incentives for Congressional Democrats and Republicans to declare war with one another each time a vacancy occurs.
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PUBLICATION
Increasing Voter Participation
The order of presidential primaries gives disproportionate influence to Iowa and New Hampshire. Many states still use outdated, vote-depressing ballot rules that should’ve gone decades ago. Here’s how to buck this trend, revamp voter turnout, and bring democracy back.
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PUBLICATION
Clearing the Path for New Parties
State laws discriminate against small parties and independents. Meanwhile, small parties struggle to capture votes when the public fears they’ll poach power from the major players. Politics doesn’t have to be this way. It’s time to break the two-party stranglehold with a careful review of the history books.
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PUBLICATION
Letting the Parties Decide Who Represents Them
The current primary system has lost sight of the importance of the parties themselves in the nomination process, and it's time to bring it back. The answer to the question of saving American democracy might be to have a less directly democratic, more representative democratic leadership in our political parties.
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The Big Issues
Climate and Energy
Climate and Energy
The fight against climate change is a multi-decade challenge, and must be sustained across many presidencies and sessions of Congress. For any solution to stand a chance, it must be forged in the center.
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