My guest today is Ms. Katherine Gehl, business leader, author, speaker, and political innovator who has taken on the ambitious undertaking of trying to reform how American politics works.
In 2020, with Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, Gehl published her book, The Politics Industry, How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save our Democracy. Heady stuff indeed. The overarching theme is a system called Final Five Voting, where candidates enter a primary regardless of party – a new way of voting that forces candidates to earn a spot in the general election versus a system, which, currently, is not competitive.
Alaska approved this system in a 2020 ballot measure. And Gehl noted that for the 2024 elections, there are also signature drives taking place in Missouri and Nevada. Gehl added that California and Washington adopted the top two primaries in which the top two finishers advance to the general election, again, regardless of party affiliation.
After spending time with Katherine, I was truly encouraged about our elections for the first time in many years. As someone who has grown less than optimistic about our democracy of late, Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter have crafted a plan that might just work after all.
I hope you learn as much as I did from Katherine. She is really on to something here!
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