The General Caucus
A New Approach to American Elections
The General Caucus represents a fundamental restructuring of how Americans select their political leaders. Here’s the basic idea of how the General Caucus works:
Voters meet at precinct caucuses to deliberate issues and then choose a delegate. This happens again at the state house-district caucus, and then the final state-wide caucus (see diagram). The final state-wide caucus will select the public official for a specific office. It’s based on the Iowa Caucus and the theory of decentralization.
With the shear number of caucus-goers and delegates involved, the system defends democracy and defeats populist tyrants and wealthy oligarchs. Unlike traditional elections, the system requires in-person participation and delegates must be chosen from those physically present at each caucus.
The process eliminates the need for expensive campaigns, as potential representatives simply attend their local caucus rather than running traditional campaign operations. The cost of elections is also nearly eliminated as only a meeting at a high school gym, church, community center, etc. are needed. Citizens United no longer impacts elections because third party organizations with unlimited money are unable to target specific candidates.
The General Caucus will destroy the two-party system, tribalism, and national narratives as parties and tribes need to rally around an individual. The two-party system will be replaced with a non-party system as any party nominees may be defeated at the precinct caucus. Ideological rivals, for example, rival Democrats, will come from other precinct caucuses, meet at the state-wide caucus, and be forced to deliberate instead of ripping each other apart publicly. With so many people involved, tribalism and national narratives are diluted as no single person controls a single party’s political capital.
This in-person, deliberative process naturally prevents large-scale manipulation while fostering direct democratic engagement. This will prevent social media and corporate media influence. With so many caucus-goers and delegates, the ability of media to promote or demote candidates is severely mitigated. Same goes for the Russian FSB and other foreign intelligence agencies that influence our elections.
The reduction of influence from the media creates the concept of the “hidden candidate.” Since there’s no traditional campaigning, potential leaders are protected from wealthy interests and media influence. Instead of being subjected to expensive advertising campaigns and media scrutiny, caucus-goers may emerge as delegates and then an elected official organically through local discussion and merit-based selection.
The system’s structure naturally dilutes political extremes by engaging the broader population in direct dialogue. Unlike party primaries, which often amplify extreme positions, the General Caucus encourages moderate, thoughtful discussion among diverse community members. This face-to-face interaction fundamentally changes the national political conversation, freeing citizens from the influence of media narratives and allowing them to form independent judgments based on direct engagement with their neighbors.
Perhaps the most significant benefit to individual voters, the General Caucus promises to reduce the psychological toll that modern elections take on the American public. By eliminating the prolonged “horse race” of traditional campaigns and the anxiety-inducing anticipation of election outcomes, it offers a more stable, deliberative approach to democratic participation.
The General Caucus’ in-person nature also provides a natural defense against tech-oligarchy influence, ensuring that democratic processes remain firmly in the hands of engaged citizens rather than being mediated through digital platforms.
The absence of ballots fundamentally changes the electoral landscape, eliminating both actual election tampering and the destructive narrative of “stolen elections” that has eroded public trust.
Benefits of the General Caucus System:
Campaign Finance Reform
- Gets rid of money in politics
- Eliminates the need for candidates to spend time raising money
- Neutralizes the impact of Citizens United
- Reduces the public cost of holding elections to near zero
- Protects candidates through the “hidden candidate” concept
Media and Information Reform:
- Reduces the influence of mass media
- Minimizes the impact of social media manipulation
- Prevents concentration of media attention on specific candidates
- Reduces the effectiveness of political advertising
- Frees citizens from media-driven thought control
Destroys the two-party system
- Eliminates political tribalism
- Prevents party machinery from controlling nominations
- Removes the radicalizing effect of party primaries
- Limits the spread of national political narratives
- Makes manufactured controversies less effective
Electoral Security & Integrity:
- No physical ballots to manipulate or dispute
- Eliminates both actual election theft and claims of stolen elections
- Makes large-scale fraud virtually impossible
- Increases election security through in-person participation
- Reduces vulnerability to foreign interference
- Prevents large-scale voter data manipulation
Reduces Populism and Tyrannically-minded Candidates
- No single person can hijack national conversation
- Eliminates digital platform manipulation
- Reduces tech-oligarch influence through in-person processes
- Eliminates the “horse race” aspect of elections
- Promotes independent political thinking through face-to-face interaction
Social and Psychological Benefits:
- Reduces political polarization
- Decreases election-related anxiety and stress
- Improves public mental health by removing election anticipation
- Creates more stable democratic discourse
- Politics becomes local again
The General Caucus isn’t just a new way to vote — it’s our chance to take back democracy from the billionaires, the media giants, and the power brokers who’ve corrupted it. By returning power to our neighborhoods and communities, we can finally build the America we’ve always known was possible: one where every voice matters and where We the People truly means something again.
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Dustin Taylor is a political scientist and author of the book On the Framers’ Electoral College: How the Hamilton Method and an Electors’ Convention Can Defeat Populism and Tyranny. You can find more election reform information at framersmethod.com
