Americans are polarized. The data tells a three-part story.
1. Political bodies are more partisan than the voters they represent. The yawning ideological gap within the US House of Representatives over the past 40 years is stunning. With it, the art of cross-party collaboration has been lost.
2. The number of independents in America is massive, and growing. The June 2024 Gallup poll on political affiliation revealed that 43% of Americans consider themselves independent while just 28% consider themselves straight up Republicans or Democrats respectively. This is a 20-year trend.
The actual number of non-partisan and independent voters is much bigger than what is reported, as most independent thinkers end up joining a party where they subsequently get counted. Such voters lack political representation.
These under-represented voters vote less frequently and make fewer campaign contributions than their partisan peers--ceding its political power to those in the wings of the ideological spectrum, further adding to our polarization.
3. The public is fed up. According to Georgetown Civility Poll data, Americans agree Democracy is not working well, with both sides blaming the extreme parts of the opposite party as the cause. The 2024 study claims: "Signs of hope exist in this polling, with 88% of respondents (72% strongly) believe leaders of different parties finding compromises together can help lower political division."
So let's get to it then.
Bridge Grades is a report card for Congress. It's a bit like Rotten Tomatoes for Congress. But, instead of measuring their ideology, we score members of Congress on how collaboratively or divisively they govern. Every House Representative and Senator earns a Bridge Grade for each term they serve. The top half of the class are bridgers (earn As and Bs) and the bottom half of the class are dividers (grades C and F).
Bridge Grades are calculated using public data from trusted 3rd party sources that measure observable behaviors including what a person says (rhetoric: public statements, speeches, social media), and what a person does (legislative record: authoring and sponsoring bipartisan bills).
America was designed to be a plural society. E pluribus unum. From many, one. At its essence is the notion of peaceful coexistence within a society that accepts a wide range of ideas, interests, and beliefs while agreeing to disagree. More than 250 years later, we've lost this plot and toxic identity culture wars now distract us from our "live and let live" ethos.
Instead, American politics has become a 24/7 national sports rivalry. Voters choose candidates based solely on the color of their uniform.
What if, instead of voting for candidates for their party loyalties or ideological beliefs, voters chose representatives based on their ability to collaborate to solve problems for our common interests. Representatives who put country ahead of party. America's deliciously eclectic population is comprised of so many intersecting groups. Governing this motley crew requires collaboration, nuanced understanding, and an ability to find win-win solutions through coalitions -- not reps who are merely puppets who are reliably loyal to their party.
As under-represented non-partisan and independent voters align to re-elect bridgers and vote out dividers from both parties, we will embolden a cross-party alliance of legislative bridgers to change the culture of Congress and maybe even change the culture of a nation.
- Bridgers build win-win consensus solutions through collaboration and coalitions for the benefit of bipartisan interests.
- Dividers pursue zero-sum game governance, engage in personal attacks, and demonstrate predictably partisan legislative records.
Bridge Grades are calculated using public data from trusted 3rd party sources that measure observable behaviors including what a person says (rhetoric: public statements, speeches, social media), and what a person does (legislative record: authoring and sponsoring bipartisan bills).
We aggregate objective public data along four collaboration dimensions:
- Consensus solutions (legislative record: bipartisan legislation)
- Coalition building (legislative record: working with others, builds cross party alliances)
- Civil discourse (rhetoric: unifying vs dividing rhetoric)
- Courage (bridging even when representing a partisan district)
We compile data from 6 public sources (open and transparent) into a 100 point Bridge Score which gets translated into their Bridge Grade. They earn points, for example, for sponsoring bipartisan bills, and lose points for making public personal attacks.
Think of the Bridge Grades like the “Sanitary Inspection Grade” used by municipal health departments to measure and showcase restaurant hygiene standards on behalf of prospective diners.
When you eat at a restaurant with a C sanitation grade and get sick, that's on you...
... and when we re-elect C and F graded politicians, and society gets sick, well that’s on us.