Blue State Digital

A Return to Common Sense

Back in January, Blue State Digital re-launched the Web site of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU. The Brennan Center is a public policy institute based on the legacy and judicial philosophy of former Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. It employs a vast team of lawyers, policy analysts and organizers who work around the country on behalf of disenfranchised voters and other threats to our civil liberties.

Michael Waldman, the Executive Director of the Brennan Center, has written and spoken out extensively on civil liberties, ballot access, and justice equity issues, and he now has a new book out: A Return to Common Sense: Seven Bold Ways to Revitalize Democracy.

A Return to Common Sense presents the Brennan Center's report on the most critical flaws in our current democratic process and the bold reforms that will revitalize our nation:

  • End Voter Registration as We Know It
  • Fix Electronic Voting
  • Increase Voter Turnout
  • Campaign Finance Reform
  • End Partisan Gerrymandering
  • End the Electoral College
  • Curb the Imperial Presidency and Fix Congress

We've had a chance to read the book, and it’s a short, concise, and effective prescription for fixing our country's "voting irregularities." With stories on voter ID laws such as those in Missouri and Indiana in the news regularly, Michael Waldman's book – and the work of the Brennan Center in general – is more important than ever.