This tempestuous election has left Americans reeling. We are reminded of how fragile our democracy is. Despite the Founder’s stern warnings, our politics are dominated by gridlock and partisanship. Motivated to drive flawed one-sided priorities, each electoral cycle, we dump serious money into our gladiator contests for president and down-ballot races. This time it was a shade under $3 billion solicited directly by House, Senate and the Presidential campaigns and for their independent PACS. Almost 45% went to support the White House hopefuls.
Many of us anticipate that eye-popping amounts spent in traditional politics will deliver new leaders carrying broad support for a bipartisan agenda. Instead aggressive “investments” in our current broken politics is causing unprecedented division between red and blue. Eight out of 10 Americans believe our nation is historically divided and two-thirds say we are on the wrong track. People know government and our representatives are failing to reach the heights laid out in 1776. Consistent investment in this insider’s political game is leaving citizens, and the issues they care about, neglected year after year.
A new group of “political entrepreneurs” is working to counter this broken system. They are vibrating change on issues supported by a wide swath of Americans from all sides, and are following a business model laid out by technology startups and their investors. Deploying and leading for-profit, nonprofit, and political organizations, they are tackling the biggest issues that directly affect citizens’ lives. Mission-driven and nonpartisan, they refuse to accept the failure, division, and deadlock that dominates our politics and policy making. They focus more on designing good policy and citizen-focused civic technologies than building new gaming apps. These visionaries operate outside government filling gaps where government is falling short.
For example, through 2016, with Washington deadlocked, political entrepreneurs in state after state drove initiatives that asked citizens directly what they want: on gun reform, on experimental voting systems, on education and fiscal issues, on income inequality. Meanwhile, education, civic and sustainable energy tech keeps rolling out, responding to consumer demand for smarter and more efficient tools to enrich their lives.
Big problem, though. Political entrepreneurs operate in a weak ecosystem offering little strategic support. Forced into silos, they have a tough time recruiting top talent. Most have meager annual budgets between $500,000 and $2 million. There’s little aggressive capital for fundamental growth or to iterate promising work. Our country is suffering because we fail to strategically invest.
We haven’t always been so short sighted. For example, the last century saw smart spending on technology and scientific progress.
We broke the sound barrier. Walked the moon. Reached Mars. Deciphered our genetic code. The Internet and search engines connect a world through Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram. We can order almost anything on our phones--rides, home shares, a gourmet meal--without friction. Exponential amounts of data and information sit right in our hands.
Tech entrepreneurs succeed by pragmatically circumventing government regulation and outpacing competitors. They leverage creative financing and financiers sparking new markets of fresh currency and jobs. Techies can list their companies, ideas, and teams on CrunchBase and Angel List. They display their wares at TechCrunch Disrupt, SXSW and on Kickstarter. Portals like CircleUp, Prosper, and LendingClub, along with angel investment clubs, connect them with capital. They “disrupt,” just like the Founders did in 1776.
This complex ecosystem, developed over 40 years, has given the traditional tech sector an advantage over our new cohort of political entrepreneurs. Reform organizations and entrepreneurs seeking to change our nation’s policy grid struggle for every dollar and opportunities to engage--consistently failing to reach goals, propping up stalled programs, and resulting in premature shutdowns. Consequently, many Americans have been left behind, missing out on the benefits being created by these organizations and leaders.
Key to supporting these innovators is establishing the first national marketplace focused on bipartisan and nonpartisan policy reform and transformation. We must provide seed financing and grants that will conjoin political entrepreneurs with committed investors for change. Invest America Fund is at the forefront of establishing this marketplace-a “Silicon Valley” for a national community of investors and dedicated reformers. New capital directed toward political entrepreneurs can be a counterbalance to the increasingly ineffective bets pouring into traditional campaigns and candidates every election cycle. Supporting these innovative bipartisan ideas and organizations will help build the next generation of leaders at the forefront of American progress.