New national grassroots effort says America’s political system is broken—and Republicans and Democrats have both played a role in breaking it
SAN DIEGO — Sept. 10, 2026 — Former California gubernatorial candidate and businessman John H. Cox today announced the launch of Hear the People, a bipartisan grassroots movement dedicated to fundamentally changing the way Americans are represented in Congress and giving ordinary citizens a greater voice in their government.
Hear the People begins with a simple premise: America does not have a people problem. It has a representation problem.
For decades, Americans have watched political divisions become deeper, campaigns become more expensive and Washington become increasingly disconnected from the communities it is supposed to represent. At the same time, many of the issues that matter most to families—from the rising cost of housing and healthcare to groceries, energy, childcare and the ability to save for the future—remain unresolved.
The affordability crisis is a particularly stark example. Families across the country are struggling to keep pace with the cost of everyday life, while political debate too often focuses on partisan conflict instead of practical solutions.
Hear the People believes the question Americans should be asking is not simply whether Republicans or Democrats have the better answer. It is whether our political system is structured to produce answers at all.
“Americans are being told that the other party is the problem,” said John H. Cox, founder of Hear the People. “But the truth is that both parties have participated in creating the system we have today. Republicans and Democrats have become increasingly dependent on the same political machinery—special-interest money, big media, extreme partisan voices and negative campaigning. And while they fight each other, ordinary Americans are struggling to afford their lives.”
A Political System That Rewards Division
Hear the People argues that today’s hyper-partisan political environment is not simply the result of Americans becoming more divided. It is also a consequence of the way modern congressional campaigns are conducted.
Today, every member of the U.S. House represents about 750,000 people. Hear the People argues that no elected official can realistically know, listen to or personally represent that many constituents. Instead, candidates must rely on enormous fundraising operations, expensive media campaigns, consultants, polling and increasingly sophisticated political advertising to reach voters at scale.
That system creates incentives that can reward the loudest voices, the biggest donors and the most effective political attacks—not necessarily the people best equipped to represent their communities.
And both parties have participated in this system.
Hear the People does not ask Americans to choose between Republicans and Democrats. It asks them to recognize that neither party can fix a political system that rewards both of them for maintaining the status quo.
“The problem isn’t that there are Republicans,” Cox said. “The problem isn’t that there are Democrats. The problem is that our system increasingly rewards politicians for fighting each other rather than solving problems for the people they represent.”
The Four Plagues
Hear the People identifies four forces that it believes have pulled American democracy away from ordinary citizens:
Special-Interest Money — When candidates need to reach hundreds of thousands of voters, big donors and powerful interests can gain disproportionate access to the political process.
Political Extremes — Primary turnout and partisan incentives can reward candidates who appeal to the extremes rather than those who build broad community support.
Big Media — Television, digital advertising and sophisticated media operations have transformed campaigns into expensive contests for attention.
Negative Campaigning — It is easier to attack a stranger than a neighbor. Hear the People believes bringing campaigns back to the community level can change the incentives that drive political attacks.
Together, Hear the People calls these forces “The Four Plagues.”
The Proposed Solution: Bring Congress Down to Human Scale
Hear the People proposes restructuring congressional representation around Community Districts of approximately 7,500 people.
Under the proposed model, each existing congressional district would be divided into 100 Community Districts of approximately 7,500 people each.
On primary day, voters would nominate a Democrat and a Republican in each Community District, the same as today. On the general election ballot, voters would then choose one of those candidates to serve as their Community Representative for two years.
The 100 Community Representatives would subsequently meet and select one of their own to serve in the U.S. House. The remaining Community Representatives would stay in their neighborhoods, serving as a direct local connection between citizens and the member of Congress.
The result would be a dramatic change in the scale of political representation: 750,000 → 7,500.
Instead of asking one representative to personally represent three-quarters of a million people, Hear the People would create a network of community-level representatives who can actually know the people they serve.
“The person who represents you should be somebody you can meet,” Cox said. “They should know your neighborhood. They should know your concerns. And if they stop listening, you should be able to replace them without needing millions of dollars, a national political network or a television advertising campaign.”
A Different Kind of Campaign
The proposal would fundamentally change how congressional campaigns are conducted.
At the community level, candidates could meet voters face-to-face rather than spending enormous sums to purchase mass media. A candidate would not need to introduce themselves to 750,000 strangers. They would need to earn the trust of approximately 7,500 neighbors.
That creates the possibility of personalized campaigns built around conversation, community knowledge and trust rather than money and media.
It also lowers the barriers to political participation, allowing people who could never afford a traditional congressional campaign to consider public service.
Hear the People believes this could open the political process to a broader range of community leaders while making elected representatives more directly accountable to the people they serve.
The Goal Is Not More Politicians. It Is More Representation.
Hear the People is not proposing tens of thousands of new full-time government positions.
Community Representatives would have a limited civic role, without the fundraising apparatus, offices, staffs and political infrastructure required of today’s members of Congress. The model is designed to create substantially more direct representation without creating a comparable expansion of government overhead.
The goal is simple: put representation where people actually live.
A Constitutional Path to Reform
Hear the People maintains that its proposed changes can be pursued within the existing American constitutional framework rather than requiring a constitutional amendment.
The organization says it holds a legal opinion from a leading election-law expert concluding that the proposal falls within the states’ authority under Article I to determine the manner of electing members of the U.S. House, subject to constitutional and federal statutory requirements.
The Bigger Question: What Is Government Supposed to Do?
For Hear the People, electoral reform is not an end in itself.
The purpose is to create a political system capable of addressing the problems Americans actually experience.
Families should be able to afford a home. Parents should be able to afford childcare. Workers should be able to pay for groceries, transportation and healthcare. Young Americans should be able to imagine building a future rather than simply surviving the present.
Those are not inherently Republican issues or Democratic issues.
They are American issues.
Yet Americans increasingly hear politicians talking about each other instead of talking to them.
“We’ve allowed politics to become a spectator sport,” Cox said. “Every election is about who is winning, who is losing, who said what about whom and which party controls Washington. Meanwhile, families are asking whether they can afford their mortgage, their rent, their groceries, their healthcare or their children’s future.”
“Hear the People is about changing that conversation. We want government to focus on the people who sent it there.”
Americans Are Ready for a Different Approach
Hear the People says its proposed model is already attracting support across traditional political lines.
A national survey of 810 voters conducted in May 2026 by Public Opinion Strategies found that 69 percent supported the plan, rising to 76 percent after respondents learned more about how it works. According to Hear the People, support held across party lines and demographic groups.
The organization is now building a national grassroots movement to bring the proposal to state legislatures.
Hear the People is asking citizens to add their names to its petition calling on their state legislatures to bring the proposal to a vote.
A Movement Beyond Party
Cox says Hear the People is intentionally designed to be bigger than any one political party or ideology.
“I have been involved in politics long enough to understand that neither party has a monopoly on good ideas—and neither party has a monopoly on the problems,” Cox said.
“Republicans and Democrats have both helped build the system we have today. Now Americans from both parties, and those who belong to neither, have an opportunity to build something better.”
“This isn’t about electing more Republicans. It isn’t about electing more Democrats. It’s about making sure whoever gets elected has to hear the people.”
About Hear the People
Hear the People is a bipartisan grassroots movement founded by California businessman and former gubernatorial candidate John H. Cox. The movement seeks to restore representative government by addressing what it calls the Four Plagues of American politics: special-interest money, political extremes, big media and negative campaigning.
Hear the People proposes bringing congressional representation down to human scale through approximately 7,500-person Community Districts, creating a more personal, accessible and accountable connection between citizens and their representatives.
The organization is a program of the Hear the People Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) education foundation.
Learn more: hearthepeople.org
Media Contact:
Joseph Valdez | Valdez Companies
📞 Mobile: 480-620-9452
📩 Email: joseph@valdezcompanies.com or info@hearthepeople.org