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34-442: Sometimes identified as liberal-leaning, Common Cause has also been identified as nonpartisan and advocates government reform. It is identified with the reformist " good government " movement and is often described as a watchdog group . The organization's tagline is "holding power accountable" and its stated mission is "upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves

68-583: A voter-verified paper audit trail for election machines in all states. The organization has documented complaints about electronic voting machines . Common Cause is in favor of establishing a national popular vote for presidential elections to replace the current electoral college system. Following the November 2016 U.S. presidential election, Common Cause called for the National Popular Vote Compact to counteract what it called

102-595: A history of citizen, nonprofit, and other non-partisan groups advocating good government that reaches back to the late-19th-century municipal-level Progressive Movement (see Progressivism in the United States Municipal Administration) and the development of governmental professional associations in the early part of the 20th century, such as the American Public Human Services Association and

136-534: A series of forums, research, and recommendations to bring insight and transformation to the federal government by emphasizing the importance of performance, accountability, and transparency in government and to disseminate the leading best practices to government managers. The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that investigates and works to expose waste, fraud, abuse, and conflicts of interest in

170-562: Is The Boston Foundation , which sponsors grants and civic projects to improve the social and public sector infrastructure for the city. Federal Corrupt Practices Act The Federal Corrupt Practices Act , also known as the Publicity Act , was a federal law of the United States that was enacted in 1910 and amended in 1911 and 1925. It remained the nation's primary law regulating campaign finance in federal elections until

204-543: Is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to revitalize the federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works. It was founded in 2001 with a donation by businessman Samuel Heyman. It sponsors awards, research, and offers help to federal agencies in improving their personnel practices. The Performance Institute . The Performance Institute has provided public sector performance management training and policy insights since 2000. The Institute’s research arm has sponsored

238-770: The Committee for the Re-Election of the President , under the Federal Corrupt Practices Act in an attempt to force Nixon's campaign to report early campaign contributions. The lawsuit forced the disclosure of the names of several Nixon donors. In 1974, Common Cause supported passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), encompassing public financing of presidential campaigns and oversight of campaign ethics through

272-620: The Federal Election Commission . Common Cause has advocated public financing of elections in order to decrease the influence of special-interest contributions. The group's most successful campaign finance reform efforts have been in New York City in 1999; Connecticut in 2005; Montgomery County, Maryland in 2014; Portland, Oregon in 2016; Howard County, Maryland in 2017; Prince George's County, Maryland in 2018; and California. The organization has sought to end

306-730: The International City/County Management Association . Many of these groups had their genesis at the Public Administration Center at 1313 East 60th Street, at the University of Chicago. Today, a wide range of non-partisan good government groups are committed to improving management at all levels of government. These are a mix of professional associations, advocacy groups, foundations, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations. Some focus on improvements in

340-1080: The National Civic League (originally the National Municipal League) promotes effective local government management. Founded in 1894, its history is rooted in the Progressive Movement. Today, it brings together citizen activists for effective municipal and state government from across the country. International City/County Management Association . ICMA was founded in 1914 as a professional association of city (and eventually county) managers. It conducts research and sponsors technical and educational opportunities for its members in order to improve and professionalize municipal and county government management. There are also active civic groups promoting good government locally. The Community Indicators Consortium represents over 120 community groups promoting good local government and effective government performance. An example

374-732: The Supreme Court of the United States ruled, in Newberry v. U.S. 256 U.S. 232 (1921), that Congress's authority to regulate elections did not extend to party primaries or nominations and so struck down the spending limits in the 1911 amendment. On February 28, 1925, the Act was revised and strengthened to extend its coverage to multi-state parties and election committees and to require financial disclosure reports to be made quarterly. Any contribution over $ 100 now had to be reported, and

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408-525: The "anti-democratic" outcome in that election. Common Cause is partner organization of VoteRiders . Karen Hobert Flynn became the organization's president in June 2016. She served in this role until her death in March 2023. Virginia Kase Solomón was named as the tenth President of Common Cause on December 14, 2023. The following individuals have served as president of Common Cause: The following are three of

442-532: The Academy's expertise is its membership of Fellows, who are elected because of their distinguished contributions to the field of public administration through their government service, scholarship, or civic activism. The Fellows of the Academy include more than 500 current and former Cabinet Officers, members of Congress, Governors, Mayors, state and local administrators, legislators, business executives, and scholars. Partnership for Public Service . The Partnership

476-560: The Coalition meets regularly in Washington, DC to serve as a clearinghouse for its individual members’ respective agendas regarding government management improvement. During presidential election years, the Coalition sponsors events to highlight the importance of good government management issues in the campaign and to prepare materials that would be helpful to the winning candidate’s incoming political appointees. American Society for Public Administration . Since 1939, ASPA has been one of

510-598: The Constitution , Common Cause wrote that "There is nothing to prevent the convention, once convened, from proposing additional changes that could limit or eliminate fundamental rights or upend our entire system of government." While a constitutional convention could conceivably overturn the controversial Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC and limit the role of money in politics (as advocated by groups such as Wolf PAC ), Common Cause suggests that

544-533: The Senate campaign spending limit was raised to $ 25,000. However, the stronger version failed to provide for adequate regulation of campaign finance. The law provided for no regulatory authority to establish the manner of reporting or its disclosure to the public, and it set no penalties for failure to comply. The law did not regulate total contributions, which encouraged parties and donors to set up multiple committees and make multiple donations, all under $ 100, to evade

578-523: The U.S. federal government. Since 1981, POGO has worked with whistleblowers and government insiders to identify wrongdoing in the federal government, and works with government officials to implement policy changes based on its investigations. In addition to professional, advocacy, and research groups that advocate good government at the federal level, there are similar non-partisan groups focused on state governments. Some are national in scope; some focus specifically on an individual state: California Forward

612-600: The United States Constitution by both progressive and conservative groups, such as that by the progressive political action committee Wolf PAC to limit large monetary donations to political candidates parties and groups, and by the conservative advocacy group Citizens for Self-Governance 's "Convention of the States" initiative, which is backed by some Republican politicians. In a May 2016 report entitled The Dangerous Path: Big Money's Plan to Shred

646-427: The development of standards and research to advance accountability at all levels of government. IBM Center for The Business of Government . The IBM Center was created in 1998. It connects public management research with practice by commissioning research reports from academics, journalists, and non-profit organizations. Through its research stipends and events, it facilitates discussion of new approaches to improving

680-470: The different levels of government, such as the federal government; some focus on specific geographic areas, such as an individual city or region; and some focus on specific professional arenas, such as financial management or transparency in government. There are at least two dozen organizations that focus on management improvement at the federal level: Government Performance Coalition . The Coalition comprises nearly two dozen organizations. Formed in 1999,

714-435: The effectiveness of government at the federal, state, local, and international levels. Mercatus Center at George Mason University. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is a research, education, and outreach organization that works with scholars, policy experts, and government officials to connect academic learning and real-world practice. Its mission is to promote sound interdisciplinary research and application in

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748-475: The foundation's donors. The public interest group also criticized Donald Trump for his refusal to release his tax returns during the 2016 presidential election . The organization has been outspoken about the potential conflicts of interest from Trump's businesses and called for Trump to put his assets into a blind trust instead of handing over control of his businesses to his children. In 1972, Common Cause sued President Richard Nixon 's re-election campaign,

782-531: The humane sciences that integrate theory and practice to produce solutions that sustainably advance a free, prosperous, and civil society. It has a particular focus on accountability and government performance. National Academy of Public Administration (United States) . The National Academy of Public Administration is an independent, nonpartisan organization chartered by Congress in 1967 to assist federal, state, and local governments in improving their effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability. The unique source of

816-644: The law's limits. Enforcement was left up to Congress, which rarely acted. The US Supreme Court upheld the reporting requirements in Burroughs v. United States 290 U.S. 534 (1934). In 1941, the Supreme Court, in United States v. Classic , 313 U.S. 299 (1941), upheld the spending limits in federal elections. It limited its ruling, however, by concluding that Congress's power to regulate extended only if state law made primaries and nominations part of

850-627: The most prominent individuals who have served as chairs of Common Cause's board: Common Cause has an annual combined budget of around $ 18 million. This includes its sister organization, the Common Cause Educational Fund. Common Cause is organized as a 501(c)(4) organization , and its sister organization, the Common Cause Educational Fund , is a 501(c)(3) organization . Good Government Organizations (United States) The United States has

884-650: The oldest good government associations. It represents a wide range of professional and academic interests in the public service arena. It advocates for greater effectiveness in government, agents of goodwill and professionalism, publishers of democratic journalism, purveyors of progressive theory and practice, and providers of global citizenship. Association of Government Accountants . Since 1950, AGA has served government accountability professionals by providing quality education, fostering professional development and certification for its members who are government accountants, auditors, budget, and finance professionals. It supports

918-859: The passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1971. The Act was signed by President William Howard Taft on June 25, 1910. The Act built upon the prohibition on corporate contributions in the Tillman Act of 1907 and was codified at 2 U.S.C. Section 241. The Act established campaign spending limits for political parties in House general elections . It was the first federal law to require public disclosure of spending by political parties, but not candidates, by requiring national committees of political parties to file post-election reports on their contributions to individual candidates and their own expenditures. However, it covered only multi-state political parties and election committees, carried few penalties, and

952-560: The practice of gerrymandering in several states. In 2016, it filed a lawsuit in North Carolina challenging the constitutionality of district maps. The organization's North Carolina chapter has led a campaign to create a nonpartisan redistricting process, which has bipartisan support in the state. Common Cause is also challenging redistricting in Democratic-controlled states, such as Maryland. Common Cause advocates

986-435: The public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process." The organization's stated issue areas are "money in politics", "voting and elections", "ethics", "a fair economy", and "media and democracy". Common Cause opposes and actively lobbies against modern-day efforts to call an Article V convention to propose amendments to

1020-508: The resignations of House Speakers Jim Wright in 1988 and Newt Gingrich in 1995. During the 2016 presidential elections, Common Cause suggested that the Clinton Foundation would create ethics and conflict of interest challenges for Hillary Clinton should she become president. They criticized Hillary Clinton's plan to give Chelsea Clinton control of the foundation and called for an independent audit and full disclosure of

1054-450: The risk of a runaway convention is too great because "state legislatures, the majority of which are controlled by Republicans, would likely control the agenda at a constitutional convention" and as a result it is extremely unlikely "that a convention controlled by those legislatures would really do anything productive on money in politics, on voting rights, on democracy in general". Any amendments would need to be ratified by three-quarters of

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1088-609: The states. Common Cause lobbied Congress to pass the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, requiring government officials to disclose their finances and restricting the " revolving door " between government and business. In 1989, they lobbied for passage of a new Ethics in Government Act, which ended special-interest honoraria for members of Congress and closed a loophole that allowed members to convert campaign funds to personal use. The organization's efforts led to ethics probes and

1122-461: Was formed in 2008 to renew the governance of the state government through citizen-driven solutions to provide better representation, smarter budgeting and fiscal management, and high quality public services “so all Californians could have the opportunity to be safe, healthy and prosperous in the global economy.” In addition to national and state good government organizations, there are a number of organizations that promote good government. For example,

1156-446: Was rarely enforced. On August 19, 1911, the Act was amended to extend it to Senate candidates and to primary elections . The amendments also required financial disclosure by candidates for the first time and established limits on the amount of money that candidates were allowed to spend on their campaigns. House campaign expenditures were limited to $ 5,000 and Senate expenditures to $ 10,000, but states could set lower limits. However,

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