Our Goal

American Promise is leading the charge for the 28th Amendment so we the people govern the United States -- not big money, not unions, and not corporations.

The Amendment process is well on its way to help set reasonable spending limits in our political elections, so that all Americans - regardless of net worth - can take responsibility for our lives, govern ourselves, and honor our national destiny.

Five years after Citizens United, it is time to accept the historical gravity of our situation. It is time for Americans of all political viewpoints to come together to win the 28th Amendment — and to renew U.S. democracy again.

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Presidential historian, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author

80+% of Americans Want to Overturn Citizens United v. FEC to keep Big Money Out of Politics

Among self-described liberals, conservatives, and moderates, 80 percent say the decision should be overturned. [Bloomberg Politics, 9/28/15]

By reclaiming our democracy with the 28th Amendment, We The People - of all political beliefs - will secure rights and responsibilities for our lives and for our country’s future:

safe drinking water
national defense
equal justice
self-government
tax policy
job security
public safety

healthy food supply
independent press
public lands
clean and breathable air
serving the public interest
defending human liberty

Together, we will deliver the American Promise.

Join us.

Vision/Mission

Vision

A healthy, just, and lasting American republic, in which Constitutional rights for human beings are secure, and all citizens are equal, with the right and the responsibility to govern effectively together.

A renewal of our national covenant of human liberty, equal citizenship, and responsible self-government.

Mission

To empower, inspire, and organize Americans to win the cause of our time: the 28th Amendment. This historic reform will rebalance our politics and government by putting the rights of individual citizens and the interests of the nation before the privileges of concentrated money, corporations, unions, political parties, and superPACs.

Strategy

American Promise leads the cross-partisan, fifty-state campaign for the 28th Amendment so that people, not money, govern America.

We have three drivers to win ratification of the 28th Amendment now:

Our distributed, decentralized model supports, connects and amplifies cross-partisan local action by all Americans all over the country, driven by our national Citizen Uprising, Civic Courage program, public events, and our acclaimed National Citizen Leadership Conference;
We build national consensus and determination, vetting and driving forward specific, effective language of the 28th Amendment with our Writing The 28th Amendment program and inviting all Americans into the process; and
We hold elected representatives accountable to ensure that they represent the good of the country and the will of the people for big, real reform through the 28th Amendment, rather than do the bidding of big donors and special interests.

Together, this three-prong strategy is building the super-majority support in Congress and throughout the country to pass and ratify the 28th Amendment and renew the American promise of human liberty, equal citizenship, and effective self-government.

What It Says

The 28th Amendment affirms that We the People - not big money, not unions, not corporations - govern the United States.

The strongest consensus language for the Amendment* will secure:

Rights for human beings over privileges for global corporations and special interests
Fair and free elections for ALL Americans
Rights of all Americans to equal participation and representation

*Now, American Promise is leading an 18 month effort to build national consensus.

Click here to read more about our efforts...

With our Writing the 28th Amendment project, we are bringing Americans of all walks of life together with law professors, attorneys, former judges and Constitutional experts for deliberation and debate.

In addition to online research and deliberation, we will continue to organize public meetings and citizen roundtable discussions, as we did at the first National Citizen Leadership Conference.

Over the next 18 months, we will continue to bring many more Americans into the deliberations and debate. We’re confident that we will get the best, most effective Amendment language in a timely manner consistent with our roadmap for passage and ratification of the 28th Amendment.

By way of example, here are the two leading 28th Amendment bills now in Congress:

1) Democracy for All Amendment - This approach received 54 votes in the US Senate in the last Congress, and currently has 95 cosponsors in the House, and 38 in the Senate:

SECTION 1. To advance democratic self-government and political equality for all, and to protect the integrity of government and the electoral process, Congress and the States may regulate and set limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections.

SECTION 2. Congress and the States shall have power to implement this article by appropriate legislation, and may distinguish between natural persons and corporations or other artificial entities created by law, including by prohibiting such entities from spending money to influence elections.

SECTION 3. Nothing in this article shall be construed to grant Congress or the States the power to abridge the freedom of the press.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/8/text

2) We the People Amendment - This approach currently has 34 cosponsors in the House:

SECTION 1. The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only. Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law. The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.

SECTION 2. Federal, State and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their economic status, have access to the political process, and that no person gains, as a result of that person’s money, substantially more access or ability to influence in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure. Federal, State, and local governments shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed. The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-joint-resolution/48/text