Collective Reincorporation: The FARC's fading dream

Rare are the days of cordiality towards opposing party politicians within American government. Specifically, a shift has occurred in which politicians no longer know each other, which can have detrimental effects on governing and deal-making. To this end, former Massachusetts Governor William Weld has recently promoted the importance of spending time with fellow politicians, in order to increase bipartisanship and function better in government. This is exemplified by his proposal and seven year old practice of “hangout sessions,” weekly meetings in which politicians with opposing viewpoints come together.

Tough laws, taxes, and a public information campaign helped cut Australia’s adult smoking rate in half. The country leads the world in these efforts, including being the first to require plain tobacco packaging in 2012. However, some smokers protest, saying that the government is interfering with their individual rights.

Rampant misconduct by judicial systems across the country brought to light a crippling practice of debtors' prisons—where disadvantaged individuals unable to pay fines and fees were continually and wrongfully imprisoned, creating a vicious cycle. The American Civil Liberties Union stepped in to work with governments and private companies to increase transparency, eliminate abuse, and reeducate law enforcement officials. The state of Ohio has emerged as a leader in reforming debtors' prisons, though there is still work to do.

Corruption in Mexico is ingrained in all systems and interactions. President Vicente Fox and his administration are trying to change this. Their mentality is that for corruption to truly be fought the government needs to actively make change and implement rules to counteract it, and some of Fox's changes are now beginning to see improvements.

In its efforts to oust authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s Tisza Party established “Tisza Islands” across the country to recruit and engage volunteers, with more than 20,000 members as of January 2025. Through these outposts, the party was able to staff its campaign stalls with volunteers, distribute an independent newspaper highlighting information not reported in pro-Orbán media, and deploy election monitors to polling stations on election day. Tisza’s candidate, Péter Magyar, defeated Orbán with more than 53 percent of the vote.

By shifting their message around gun violence to frame it as a public safety issue and narrowing the focus of proposed legislation to appeal to a wide coalition, Minnesota lawmakers were able to pass a sweeping gun reform package that included a red flag law, universal backgrounds checks, and significant investments in community violence intervention programs.

Virginia’s VRA protects voters from suppression, discrimination, and intimidation and has effectively stopped racial gerrymandering and intimidation. Its pro-voting measures include requiring materials in multiple languages, the provision of accessibility accommodations, and requiring public review of any local level voting changes. The legislation also creates a pathway for Virginians to bring civil lawsuits if a procedure negatively impacts economically disadvantaged communities or communities of color.

A grassroots campaign ended gerrymandering in Michigan by passing an initiative requiring districts be drawn by citizen-commissions rather than politicians. The all-volunteer campaign went door-to-door collecting enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot and used creative voter-engagement techniques to sustain the support. Once the ballot initiative passed, 9,300 people applied for the first commission. A third-party firm ultimately selected four Democrats, four Republicans, and five non-partisan people as commissioners, who worked together very well to redraw districts.

In order to cut carbon emissions in France, President Emmanuel Macron created an assembly of 150 randomly selected citizens. The citizens "convention on climate" met and deliberated for months before releasing 149 proposals on how the government should address climate change. Although only 10 made it into law without being altered, and 36 others were included form, the final legislation was one of the most comprehensive passed in the history of the country. The recommendations also garnered conversations and inspired the creation of other assemblies.

California residents passed Proposition 11, a redistricting reform ballot initiative, in 2008 and in 2010, voters strengthened that reform by passing a bill to allow an independent commission to redraw state and congressional lines. Fourteen people, who were selected from 30,000 applicants, spent a year holding public hearings across the state to make informed decisions on how to fairly redraw district maps. As a result, more than a dozen Congressional incumbents lost their seats, which was not an intentional outcome but rather what resulted from decisions made based on the public testimony they heard.