In identifying majority rule as the essential element that gives a government the “form” of a “perfect democracy”, John Locke used the term “perfect democracy” in the same way the terms “pure democracy” and “majoritarian democracy” are sometimes used as synonyms for direct democracy. We wholeheartedly embrace John Locke's ideals and have been inspired by his use of the term "perfect democracy". However, we use the term Perfect Democracy in a slightly different way.
To communicate as effectively as possible, we feel it is important for us to clarify what we mean by the key terms we use in discussing what we need to do to make America a Perfect Democracy:
By Democracy, we mean government by the people. In practice, that means government by a majority of the people who choose to be politically active.
By True Democracy, we mean a government in which the people truly govern, with every citizen having an equal vote and the votes of the majority determining what powers our government is given, what laws are enacted, and what policies are put in place.
By Perfect Democracy, we mean a true democracy in which a majority of the citizens who choose to be politically active respect the rights of others, understand that the primary reason we institute governments is to secure and protect our rights, and consistently support laws and policies that create the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
We believe that a majority of Politically Active Citizens in America possess these qualities and that when we make America a true democracy, we will also make America a Perfect Democracy.
About This Website
This website is designed and intended to serve as an informational resource and an organizational hub for a broad-based and inclusive pro-democracy movement, helping Politically Active Citizens and pro-democracy organizations work together to build support for the reforms needed to make America a Perfect Democracy and get those reforms enacted.Say something interesting about your business here.
This website and the Government by the People group on Facebook, are the primary means by which we facilitate interactions between Politically Active Citizens who share the common goal of making America a Perfect Democracy.
Most of the material on this website is from a soon-to-be published book - Government by the People: A Citizens Guide to Making America a Perfect Democracy by Winston Apple.
About Perfect Democracy
The action component of our campaign to make America a Perfect Democracy is facilitated by Perfect Democracy - a non-profit, non-partisan Social Welfare Organization (also known as a political action committee (Super PAC).
The primary focus of PACs is on raising enormous amounts of money and then spending that money in support of candidates who will do the bidding of the people and organizations who contribute money. Most PACs are organized by corporations and billionaires as a vehicle for spending unlimited amounts of mostly “dark” money to get politicians who will do their bidding elected.
The primary focus of Perfect Democracy is on facilitating communication between Politically Active Citizens and coordinating the efforts of Politically Active Citizens and pro-democracy organizations as we work together to perfect democracy in America.
Although we do need to raise some money, the primary emphasis of Perfect Democracy is on organizing a mass movement of Politically Active Citizens. We actively solicit contributions of time (not money). Perfect Democracy has no paid staff.
The key to making our Pro-Democracy Movement too big to fail is to compile and grow a database of Politically Active Citizens, pro-democracy voters, and Champions of Democracy. .
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Overview: America is not a Perfect Democracy
Democracy is Government by the People.
Majority rule is the essential element of a true democracy. Common sense and observation tell us, and research confirms, that “Majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts” while “economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy.” [From a study by Benjamin I. Page and Martin Gilens. As reported in their book: Democracy in America? What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It.]
Antidemocratic provisions in the body of our Constitution and flaws in the way we conduct elections have made it possible for corporate interests and billionaires to gain control of our governments at both the state and federal levels. The version of democracy in place in America at present is so deeply flawed as to be more accurately described as an oligarchy, or more specifically, as a combination of a corporatocracy and a plutocracy (government by and for corporate interests and the wealthy).
Money has become the dominant factor in our elections and has corrupted politicians at all levels of government and in both of our major political parties. Our vaunted system of "checks and balances" has made it possible for politicians representing corporate interests to consistently block legislation supported by most Americans.
Along with the frustration of not being able to get critically needed legislation enacted, a tsunami of misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies has generated toxic levels of anger, fear, and hatred, and left Americans deeply and bitterly divided. We argue angrily and endlessly about the issues that divide us. The discussion never seems to focus on the issues where we are in broad agreement. None of the conflicts that divide us are ever resolved. None of the problems we face as a nation are ever addressed effectively, despite the fact that a majority of us agree upon solutions.
Given the state of politics and civic engagement in America today, the idea of making America a Perfect Democracy may seem, to many Americans, to be hopelessly idealistic.
It is idealistic. Our nation was founded on democratic ideals, clearly stated as “self-evident” Truths in our Declaration of Independence. We are "endowed" by our Creator with equal and unalienable rights to "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." The primary reason we "institute" governments is to secure and protect our rights. And governments derive their "just powers" from "the consent of the governed."
The idea of making America a Perfect Democracy is not hopeless. The “self-evident” Truths stated in our Declaration of Independence are eternal and nearly all Americans believe in them. And there is one additional right mentioned in the Declaration of Independence: Our right to “alter the form” of our government whenever we deem it necessary to effect our "Safety and Happiness.”
When we unite in support of the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, we will find that we already have all the power we need to make America a Perfect Democracy by enacting either one (or both) of two elegantly simple, yet incredibly powerful, reforms: Personal Representation and Perfect Democracy Amendments.
Perfect Democracy Amendments
Perfect Democracy Amendments will extend the use of two powerful forms of direct democracy - referendums and the initiative - to the federal government and to the states that do not yet provide for them and will make it easier for citizens to call referendums and use the initiative in states that already have provisions for them, by allowing citizens to "sign" initiative petitions online.
Personal Representation through a system of Proxies
Implementing systems of Personal Representation will transform legislative bodies into truly democratic institutions by allowing every citizen who is eligible to vote to authorize any one member of each legislative body that governs them to cast votes on their behalf by assigning proxies and giving each senator and representative a number of votes equal to the number of proxies they have been assigned, plus one for themselves. By including provisions allowing citizens to reassign their proxies at any time, we can give Politically Active Citizens the ability to vote (indirectly) on any legislation being voted on in a legislative body.
Minor Changes with Major Benefits
In a survey conducted in 2021, 85% of Americans agreed that we need to completely reform or make major changes to our political system. Most American understand that until we make America a true democracy, legislation favored by a majority of the people, but opposed by corporate interests, will continue to have little, if any, chance of being enacted. Once we make America a true democracy, all the legislation favored by a majority of the people will be passed into law.
When we enact either one of these reforms, we will do more than make America great again, we will make America greater than it has ever been. When we make America a Perfect Democracy, we will make history.
The Democracy Agenda
One more universal reform:
Beyond implementing systems of Personal Representation and enacting Perfect Democracy Amendments there is one more universal reform that will make any government more democratic: Ranked Choice Voting and/or at-large elections.
Ranked Choice Voting has long been considered the form of proportional representation that would be most appealing to American voters, but Proportional Ranked Choice Voting has yet to be implemented in any of the fifty states or in Congress. Two states (Maine and Alaska) and over fifty cities have adopted ranked choice voting, but with only one or two exceptions) do not incorporate multiple-member districts or at-large elections. (Which is the most powerful element of Ranked Choice Voting.)
Thirteen states have now banned Ranked Choice Voting, but importantly, have not banned at-large elections. An amendment providing for multiple-member districts would violate the Uniform Congressional District Act, which mandates single-member districts for seats in Congress, but multiple-member districts or at-large elections could be implemented at the state and local levels of government. The more members elected in each district, the better. At-large elections are the best idea. Research has shown that districts with five or more representatives effectively neutralizes the effects of gerrymandering. At-large elections make gerrymandering impossible - there are no districts to be gerrymandered.
The most common argument against multiple-member districts or at-large elections is that voters will have too many candidates from which to choose. If we applied that logic to purchasing a car, we would want to limit the number of makes and models consumers have to choose from. The more candidates voters have to choose from, the better. A voter doesn't need to test drive every car to find one she or he likes and wants to purchase. A voter doesn't have to be familiar with every candidate on the ballot - they simply need to find someone on the ballot who will vote as they would vote to represent them. The more candidates they have to choose from, the more likely they are to find a candidate who truly represents them. (A system of Personal Representation through Proxies will ensure that they can change their representative at any time.)
The Rest of the Democracy Agenda is specific to America:
The reforms listed above are universal. They are needed in every nation. There are additional reforms needed in most countries to perfect democracy. The reforms that are needed in America make up the American version of the Democracy Agenda.
Replace the Electoral College with Direct Election of the President, using Ranked Choice Voting.
“Every other presidential democracy in the world did away with indirect elections during the twentieth century, in America the Electoral College remained intact.” [Tyranny of the Minority. Page 215]
“America is the only presidential democracy in the world in which the president is elected via an Electoral College, rather than directly by voters. Only in America can a president be “elected against the majority expressed at the polls.” [Tyranny. Page 217]
The initial draft proposal, backed by Madison and embedded in the Virginia plan, called for Congress to choose the president - a system not unlike the parliamentary model of democracy that would later emerge in Europe during the nineteenth century. [Tyranny. Page 156]
James Wilson argued for popular election of the president. This is how all other presidential and semi presidential democracies - from Argentina to France to South Korea - elect their executives today. But at the time, there were no presidential democracies, and in Philadelphia in 1787 most delegates were still too distrustful of the “people” to accept direct elections, and the proposal was twice voted down by the convention. [Tyranny. Page 157]
The Electoral College has overruled the voters (the popular vote) in two of the last six presidential elections. This is blatantly undemocratic. It is time to abolish the Electoral College and move to direct election of the president and vice-president by the people, using ranked choice voting to ensure that the winning candidate has the support of a majority of voters (at some level of preference).
We have, so far, avoided an even more antidemocratic process for electing the president that would be triggered if one or more independent or third-party candidates won enough electoral votes to prevent any candidate from receiving a majority of the electoral votes. In that event, the 12th Amendment, as it stands, provides for the House of Representatives to elect the president with each state, regardless of population, casting a single vote. The vice-president would be elected by the Senate.
No Executive Vetoes
Requiring a super-majority (typically a two-thirds majority) for the members of a legislature to overrule an executive veto violates the principle of an equal vote (requiring one more than two "yes" votes to counter a single "no" vote) and also violates the principle of the supremacy of the legislative power that is an essential part of majority rule.
Giving the executive the veto power adds an element of autocracy to a government.
If a legislative body is a truly representative assembly, the executive can be given the power to veto legislation and return it to the legislature along with a statement of the reason he or she vetoed it. But the legislature should be able to override the veto by a simple majority vote.
In a true democracy, the veto power is vested in the people of a community, state, or nation. Calling a referendum should be simple and easy. (Hence the need for Perfect Democracy Amendments.)
Corporations are not people and money is not speech.
Corporations are not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution. Corporations are not people. They are a form of business organization. The fact that five misguided, dark-robed Supreme Court Justices declared that corporations are people, with the same natural rights as human beings, does not make it so. The corporate form of business organization enables companies to reap enormous profits, grow very large, and become very powerful. We must prevent that power from being used to take control of our government.
Repeal the Universal Congressional District Act
The Uniform Congressional District Act requires that all members of the U. S. House of Representatives be elected from a single-member district. This prevents states from taking advantage of the major benefits of ranked choice voting – neutralizing the effects of gerrymandering by and giving voters more choices regarding who will represent them in Congress by electing representatives at-large or from multiple-member districts. This act needs to be repealed so that states can elect members of Congress at large or from multi-member districts using ranked choice voting.
Unicameral Legislatures
How do we handle a problem like the Senate? Anything we do will require a constitutional amendment.
The Senate is, in and of itself, the most undemocratic element in our form of government, with equal representation for states resulting in grossly unequal representation for the people of the larger states. Equal representation for the states in the Senate was “The Great Compromise” between the larger, more populous states (that wanted representation to be based on population) and the smaller states (that wanted to retain the equal representation for each state that they enjoyed under the Articles of Confederation). It was an unfortunate compromise, made necessary because the small states threatened to leave the convention (and the union) if they were denied equal suffrage in one house of Congress. It was designed to be an "elite" assembly (originally elected by state legislatures instead of directly by the people) to give the wealthy a check on the will of the people. Absent a desire to check or limit the will of the people, there is really no reason to have a bicameral (two chamber) legislature. We should move to a unicameral legislature.
The alternative (extending a system of proxies for citizens to the U. S. Senate) would make both the House of Representatives and the Senate considerably more reflective of the will of the people, which would presumably put an end to endless gridlock. It would also introduce an unnecessary redundancy. That might be necessary at least temporarily in order to get the necessary amendment enacted.
Amendments merging the Senate with the House of Representatives, o should be adopted in state governments Abolishing the Senate, merging it with the House of Representatives to make Congress a unicameral legislature, or implementing a system of proxies in the Senate will require a constitutional amendment. The primary reason we have a Senate at the federal level was to appease the small states at the Federal Convention of 1787. Our legislatures are also modeled on Great Britain's. We don't need a Senate to block the will of the people. We need a Congress and state legislatures that reflect the will of the people.
An act providing the details of how delegates to a constitutional convention would be elected and the business of the convention would be conducted.
Article V of the U. S. Constitution provides for amendments to be proposed by means of a convention but does not include any details regarding how delegates would be chosen or how the business of the convention is to be conducted. Many of the resolutions that have been adopted state legislatures calling for a convention specify strict limits on the amendments that can be considered at the convention. If a constitutional convention is called without the details already in place, it will precipitate an unnecessary and avoidable constitutional crisis.
Make Judicial Reviews Advisory Only
The power of the Supreme Court to nullify acts of Congress that have been signed into law by the president is not included in the Constitution. The power of "Judicial Review" is a power the Supreme Court gave itself early in our nation's history. Allowing a handful of Supreme Court Justices to unilaterally "veto" legislation through "Judicial Review" makes the judicial branch supreme rather than the legislative power.
Give Congress the power to nominate, confirm, and remove federal judges (including Supreme Court Justices) from office.
America is the only democracy in the world with lifetime tenure for Supreme Court justices. All other established democracies have either term limits, a mandatory retirement age, or both.
Which Side Are You On?
When we think of “sides” in the context of politics-as-usual in America, we think of Democrats versus Republicans, left wing versus right wing, or liberals versus conservatives. In a campaign to make America a Perfect Democracy, these ways of viewing the sides are irrelevant. There are Democrats who believe in democracy and Democrats who don’t. There are Republicans who believe in democracy and Republicans who don’t. There are people on both the left and the right (and centrists) who believe in democracy and people on both the left and the right (and centrists) who don’t. There are liberals and conservatives who believe in democracy and liberals and conservatives who don’t. When we shift our focus to perfecting democracy, the "sides" are the True Friends and Champions of Democracy versus the false friends and true enemies of democracy.
True Friends of Democracy believe that the “just powers” of governments are derived from “the consent of the governed”. That consent is only properly obtained when every citizen has an equal vote and/or truly equal representation, and the votes of the majority determine whether proposed legislation is approved or rejected.
Champions of Democracy are True Friends of Democracy who run for office, actively support pro-democracy candidates who are running for office, or take an active role in campaigns to get pro-democracy reforms on the ballot and adopted through the initiative. Champions of Democracy who are running for office, actively promote the reforms needed to make a government a true democracy as part of their campaigns. Champions of Democracy in Congress and state legislatures, draft, introduce and/or cosponsor pro-democracy legislation.
True enemies of democracy argue openly against democracy and in favor of other forms of government when debating the relative merits of various forms of government. Many true enemies of democracy (dictators and their supporters) simply use violence or the threat of violence to seize power.
False friends of democracy are true enemies of democracy who claim to believe in and support democracy. They work covertly to undermine democracy. They support anti-democratic provisions in constitutions, claiming they are needed to protect the rights of citizens. They support anti-democratic methods in the conduct of elections, claiming they are needed to protect the integrity of elections. They seek to create the illusion of democracy and convince the people of a community, state, or nation that their government is democratic, when it is not.
Democracy is Government by the People.
Majority rule is the essential element of a true democracy. The false friends and true enemies of democracy know that very few, if any, of the things they want governments to do have the support of a majority of the citizens. They cannot get what they want from governments that are true democracies.
There are very few enemies of democracy who are open in their opposition to democracy. Even brutal dictators often claim they have the support of the people and hold sham elections to demonstrate that alleged support. And while the false friends of democracy are in the minority in every country, they often manage to gain control of governments with flawed democracies. In America, they hold a majority of the seats in Congress and state legislatures and most of the offices in the other branches of government.
There are several reasons for their success in getting elected. Candidates who represent corporate interests and billionaires nearly always have considerably more money at their disposal and spent on their behalf when they run for office. They have perfected the art of gerrymandering, which enables them to win a majority of the seats in Congress and state legislatures even when receiving less than a majority of the votes. They do whatever they can to make it difficult for people to vote in districts that are likely to vote against candidates who represent their interests. They employ tried and true propaganda methods, using misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies to sow anger, fear, and hatred among us, and keep us divided.
Divided we lose.
The false friends and true enemies of democracy focus relentlessly on divisive issues. They work quietly, behind the scenes, to keep legislation that is opposed by corporate interests or tax-averse billionaires, from coming to a vote, or even being discussed or debated.
Their success in keeping legislation that has the support of most people from being passed into law and the ugliness, anger, and bitterness they inject into the political process has caused a great many people to conclude that voting is pointless and that we are powerless to change the system that is in place. We are not powerless.
When we unite in support of Champions of Democracy, we will find that we already have all the power we need to make America a Perfect Democracy.
Politically Active Citizens need to help voters learn to identify Champions of Democracy and vote for them. That will create a political environment where -
True Friends and Champions of Democracy need not fear the results of thousands of elections.
Some of the material on this website is adapted from a soon to be published book: Government by the People: Perfecting Democracy in the 21st Century by Winston Apple.
That content is Copyright 2026 Gary Winston Apple, unless otherwise noted.
Permission is granted to share with proper attribution. All Rights Reserved.
This website is paid for by Winston Apple - as a private citizen.