Laboratories of Democracy

Louis Brandeis (associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1916 - 1939) proposed the idea of states as "laboratories of democracy" - that because the 10th Amendment to the Unites States Constitution provides significant powers of self-government to each of the 50 states that make up the union, different policies can be tested in individual states without affecting the country as a whole.  Policies that are found to be beneficial can then be spread to the other states in the union either by act of Congress or simple emulation.

But "laboratories of democracy" has a darker side - call it "laboratories of autocracy", where the same mechanism is at work.  The only difference is who the beneficiaries are.  "Laboratories of democracy" reflects increasing benefits to the general population.  Whereas "laboratories of autocracy" increases benefits to the politician by increasing their power, their benefits of office, and their freedom from accountability, while also creating greater benefits to the corporate and special interests that back the politician.

Because the politician is at the center of controlling which policies become law and the general population is not; over time we can expect to see "laboratories of autocracy" work more effectively than "laboratories of democracy" -- unless we do something about it.   And this is exactly what we have seen.

Our organization, Laboratories of Democracy, works to identify democratic policies that benefit the general population, seeing that they are tested out in one or more states, and then educate candidates, politicians, and the public to these successful policies.  In doing so, our goal is to offset the advantage "laboratories of autocracy" has over "laboratories of democracy" and help our country evolve a strong, robust democracy rooted in healthy and accountable politician-to-constituent partnerships.

Laboratories of Democracy, a 501(c)(3) organization, acts as a think-tank and education provider that distributes its results, content, strategy, and processes through its 501(c)(4) partner, The Oath of Office.   Our socket technology (operated by The Oath of Office) allows us to test policies with key partners and then scale proven solutions across a wider network of organizations.   It is also used to allow multiple organizations with aligned goals to interoperate and achieve far greater success together than they would separately.

Laboratories of Democracy is the creator of the Politician's Creed.  We work with and help coordinate organizations that promote and support the Politician's Creed.  

Laboratories of Democracy and its sister company, The Oath of Office, are non-partisan organizations using agreement with the Politician's Creed as their sole criteria for candidate endorsement or organization support.  

If you are a candidate for office and would like the endorsement of The Oath of Office, please review the Politician's Creed first before applying for endorsement on The Oath of Office's site.

If you are an organization in agreement with the Politician's Creed and would like to work with either of our organizations, please fill out the information on this link.