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Common Cause is a U.S. nonpartisan lobbying group based in Washington, D.C..

Mission

According to the website, its mission is to, "strengthen public participation and faith in our institutions of self-government; to ensure that government and political processes serve the general interest, rather than special interests; to curb the excessive influence of money on government decisions and elections; to promote fair elections and high ethical standards for government officials; and to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans."

History

Common Cause was founded in 1970 by John William Gardner, who was the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Lyndon Johnson. Gardner was a Republican, who came to Washington, to serve under President Johnson, a Democrat. Gardner later became chair of the National Urban Coalition, a group advocating for poor, minority, and working-class residents in urban areas.

During his time in the nation's capital, a city teeming with special interest groups, he stated that "everybody's organized but the people." That thought formed the seed of Common Cause, which Gardner established in August 1970 to represent citizens' interests in Washington. Within six months, the organization had more than 100,000 members, many of them joining to oppose the Vietnam War.

In the past, Common Cause worked with others to ban soft money contributions. In 2002, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act was enacted and a year later a historic U.S. Supreme Court decision, McConnell v. FEC, upheld the law, thus effectively banning soft money contibutions.

Bob Edgar, former general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ was named President by the National Governing Board in May 2007. Martha Tierney, a Denver attorney, is currently the interim chair of the national governing board.

Current issues and projects

Common Cause is a United States membership organization with approximately 300,000 members and financial supporters. It has 36 state chapters, which lobby their legislatures. The group has professional lobbyists based in Washington, D.C..

Common Cause works with its members and activists and in coalition with other advocacy organizations towards forwarding its stated goal of making government more accountable to the people. Common Cause has led efforts for campaign finance reform, ethics and accountability in government, as well as transparent government practices at the national, state, and local levels. It has partnered with coalitions fighting for civil rights legislation, ending what they have considered to be wasteful weapons programs, and working for progressive reforms of the United States system of voting.

The organization currently has 4 major priorities: public financing of elections; open and democratic media that strengthen democracy; promoting ethics at all levels of government; and improving voting machines.

Voters First Pledge Campaign

The Voters First Pledge campaign is a Common Cause campaign designed to clean up American government and elections, according to the principles listed above. Common Cause asked all candidates for federal office in 2006 -- around 1300 candidates across the nation -- to sign the Voters First Pledge.

Get It Straight by 2008

Common Cause's Get it Straight by 2008 campaign seeks to require voter-verified paper trails and audits of voting machines.

HR 550, "The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005," introduced by Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ), would have required a voter-verified paper record as well as audits. Common Cause unsuccessfully lobbied the House to pass the bill.

Media and Democracy Coalition

Common Cause spearheads and acts as fiscal sponsor for the Media and Democracy Coalition. According to its website, the coalition consists of 25 groups and is "committed to amplifying the voices of the public in shaping media and telecommunications policy."

References

1. Common Cause's website
2. including Public Campaign, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG
3. For an official complete list of these issues, click Here.

External links

• Common Cause's website
• OpenTheGovernment.org
• The Government Accountability Project (GAP)
• Information on Net Neutrality

• Organizations based in the United States
• Government watchdog groups in the U.S.
• Political advocacy groups in the United States
• 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy and irregularities