How to fix gridlock in Washington.

Closed-door deals at the top lock voters out of decisions

We’ve all heard the stories, read the articles and watched the TV news shows describing how broken that nation’s capital is, so this may come as a surprise to many, but it’s worse.

I often find myself debating various topics — from the Affordable Care Act to immigration to tax reform — but always come to the same conclusion: There will not be progress on any of these issues unless we begin to address the structural problems that are plaguing our democracy.

There are several factors that have led to this gridlock, some of which I hadn’t considered until I experienced them firsthand in Washington, D.C. At the top of the list is the gerrymandering of congressional districts, which causes the extreme elements of both parties to dominate the discussion in Washington. About 90 percent of districts are drawn and rigged to favor one party or another, thereby making the primary election the only important one. When the average primary turnout is just 15 percent, you realize that 15 percent of the country is determining 90 percent of the representatives.

Second, the money in politics — the sheer amount of it, the time spent raising it, and the fact that corporations and individuals can give unlimited and undisclosed amounts of it— is absurd. I believe that the Supreme Court made a grave error in 2010 when it ruled in Citizens United that money equals speech, and we may spend the next several decades feeling the repercussions of a campaign-finance system in which those with the largest wallets determine who speaks for us in Washington.

The lack of strong relationships, often underlooked, in D.C. is another part of the problem. Members of Congress used to move to Washington with their families, send their kids to the same schools and socialize outside of the Capitol building. In a bygone era, members were truly friends, regardless of party affiliation. Nowadays, members hardly know each other, which makes it all too easy to speak disparagingly about each other and impossible to even think about compromise.

The polarization of the media continues this partisan demonization both on TV and the internet, and we all are guilty of consuming what confirms our current beliefs. After serving for two years on the Intelligence Committee — where we met underground in a secluded space that required a security clearance — I realized the difference between being in rooms where members of Congress play to the cameras and being in rooms without. As you can imagine, with live CSPAN cameras rolling, some members feel obliged to play to their base and appease that hyperpartisan 15 percent of the electorate. And the worst part is that the “real” legislative discussions take place even further behind closed doors, in the offices of leadership, where virtually every major decision gets made. So how do you fix it all? Let’s start by drawing truly fair districts, either by an independent commission or by software that forces districts to be created with an unbiased look at partisanship and geography. Then let’s get the money out of politics by overturning the Citizens United decision with a constitutional amendment. Finally, the remaining structural problems can be addressed with one simple solution: better civic education. Voters need a clearer understanding of what’s real or fake, what is political noise, and what must be prioritized.

I was recently on a panel with several experienced and well-versed political thinkers in D.C. from both sides of the aisle, and when asked what the biggest problem facing our country was, the answer wasn’t North Korea, the debt or climate change — it was the partisan paralysis in Washington. This must change immediately, and it’s going to take both voters and brave political leaders to do so.

The largest wallets determine who speaks for us in Washington.