When accountability is in the hands of constituents, the constituency benefits directly from the politician's efforts. But when accountability is in the hands of a smaller number of people outside of the constituency (e.g, party leaders, big corporations, etc), then it is those few people who benefit most directly from the politician's efforts.
Simply put:
Whoever holds the reins of political accountability reaps the greatest benefits of the politician's efforts in office.
So returning accountability to the public is the most democratic thing we can do.
But how to do that - where do we apply pressure?
Every politician has two core jobs...
That’s it. Everything else flows from these responsibilities.
Over time, accountability has shifted away from the people and into the hands of parties, caucuses, and special interests on the collaboration side. Constituents lose their voice, and politicians protect themselves with tactics like voter suppression and gerrymandering. What was once solved at the ballot box is been made harder by design.
Accountability moving from the representation side of politics to the collaboration side is the single largest problem in politics as it enables corruption, grifting, and government-sponsored disinformation, which further drives the accountability shift. So identifying the accountability shift mechanics helps us determine where and how to apply pressure to reverse the shift.
Keep accountability on the representation side and you truly have a government for the people, by the people, and with the people.
But why don't constituents just vote "bought" politicians out?
The Greatest Enabler: Gaslighting, Lack of Transparency, and Dishonesty toward Constituents
Trust and giving the benefit of doubt are strengths of human relationships—but many of today's politicians exploit them.
When self-interest and party loyalty outweigh constituent needs, too many politicians retreat: they become less transparent, less accessible, and less honest. By hiding behind opacity, they misrepresent facts and avoid performing their duties to their constituents while relying on voters’ good faith to escape accountability.
Gaslighting and dishonesty are the main enablers of accountability remaining on the collaboration side of politics. Penalize such behavior strongly enough and accountability will start to return to the constituents.
So by making honesty, integrity, and transparency valuable again, we take away the best tools (dishonesty, gaslighting, lack of transparency) a politician has for keeping their seat long after they've abandoned their constituents. Article 4 of The Politician's Creed states:
“I will perform my roles in office with Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency, knowing that doing so will add the greatest value for my community over my term in office.”
A politician who has earned their TPC badge who then repeatedly breaches Article 4 without remedy stands to lose their badge and certification. Candidates and politicians who take the oath are putting a lot on the line. They know that if they lose their badge, that it's worse than having never received it in the first. This gives even greater credence to the TPC badge - when you see it, you know that politician is serious about their commitment to their constituents.
So, our candidate has taken the Oath of The Politician's Creed. Do we now just sit back and wait for them to deliver?
Absolutely not! Your TPC-certified candidate has made an incredible commitment (if you have not yet read the entire 7 Articles of The Politician's Creed, now is a good time to do so). And everyone in their constituency needs to support them tremendously against the pressures they will be facing. This means donate, volunteer on their campaign, join or build an Oath Network (see the About section) around that candidate/politician. Do whatever you can. Your candidate, your politician has made an incredible commitment to you. You need to do likewise for them.
