Word: gardners
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...philosopher turned activist, Gardner stated the basis for his change of heart. "We've got to get back into some sort of command of our situation. Individual Americans have to get back into command of their institutions again; this means access, this means responsiveness. These are great abstractions, but if you asked what is behind them you sooner or later come down to very specific log jams like seniority. You discover that over the years in every one of these institutions, people almost unconsciously have designed barricades to prevent access. They like the insiders game which makes it very difficult...
...Ninety-Second Congress has become the first in 60 years to reform, even slightly, the rigid seniority system, which concentrates power in the hands of aged, rural, Southern, often arch-conservative members. Common Cause deserves much of the credit for the small victory. Gardner picked the seniority system as one of his targets because he believes that a highly visible evil is less dangerous than an invisible one. The seniority system in Congress is very powerful in an invisible...
When Common Cause went to work on the seniority system, its St. Louis members wired Representative Richard Ichord (D.Mo.), asking him to state his position. Ichord, in response, wrote Gardner that the request was "very impertinent and insolent questioning." Gardner replied, "The desire of a citizen to know where his representative stands has not traditionally called insolence or impertinence. It has been called democracy." Almost overnight, Common Cause membership in St. Louis jumped from 400 to 1400. This suggests that one good way to make allies is to make the right enemies, and that people will respond to leadership that...
...preoccupation with processes which has caused Mr. Gardner to create a "third force" outside the traditional electoral system is reflected in two of Common Cause's current programs-reform of voting rights and campaign spending. The most effective access a citizen has to the political process is his right to vote. The inability of a citizen to vote because of archaic registration laws and practices is an intolerable denial of fundamental rights. Voting registration laws in many states make it extremely difficult to qualify to vote, particularly if one is poor, uneducated, or new to the state. Residency requirements alone...
Common Cause is also working to reform campaign spending laws. Gardner filed suit early in February against the Democratic National Committee, the Republican National Committee and the Conservative Party of New York, in an attempt to close loopholes enabling parties to receive large amounts of money, which allow political costs to soar and fraudulent practices to occur. "Political spending has gotten out of hand," said Gardner. "We have moved perilously close to the time when no American will be able to run for federal office unless he is wealthy or willing to put himself under obligation to sources of wealth...