CENTER FOR COLLABORATIVE DEMOCRACY
Grand Bargain Project
How Voters Can Get Congress to Function,
End Trump’s Havoc
& Meet Their Aspirations for a Better Life
The Grand Bargain will Advance Seven Aspirations that Nearly Every American Shares
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Greater economic opportunity and growth
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Schools that enable kids to reach their potential
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Effective & affordable healthcare
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Curbing the national debt
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Reliable clean & affordable energy
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Fairer, simpler tax code
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Congress organized to resolve our differences
How Both Parties Have Been Crushing Our Aspirations
Why Both Parties Will Keep Thwarting Our Aspirations
Over 90% of members of Congress win reelection year after year by:
blaming the other party for America’s ills, offering sound bites as remedies,
and catering to key supporters - while ignoring the long-term costs to everyone else.
Among lawmakers we’ve met, all have been fixated on winning elections.
None could articulate a believable strategy for improving most constituents’ lives.
Our two-party system has thereby become an engine of divisiveness and dysfunction.
How the Grand Bargain is Uniquely Designed to Advance Voters’ Aspirations at Historic Scale
We gathered over 300 ideas from diverse stakeholders invested in the seven areas. We then distilled their ideas into 39 reforms that meet five criteria.
Significantly enhance each American’s life
Boost efficiency to yield biggest “bang for the buck”
Work well together
Yield a package that nearly every citizen wants enough to accept the costs
Motivate each lawmaker to act in the public’s interests
83% of Americans Right, Left & Center Agree on Grand Bargain
YouGov Poll Asked the Following Question
“Do you want Congress to make this Grand Bargain a Priority?”
America Today: Divided Red vs. Blue
How the Grand Bargain Will Unite Us
Rising Fear, Anger & Mistrust
Unprecedented Support for Advancing Shared Aspirations
YouGov conducted survey from December 24, 2025 to January 5, 2026, to produce a 1000 person dataset representative of US citizens. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/-3.59%. For subgroups, the margin of sampling error is higher.
To persuade Congress to act in every American's best interests, we built the Grand Bargain WebApp.
In 10 minutes, you can:
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Evaluate each reform: Critical to Me & Others - Good Idea - Not Sure - Dislike It - Hate It
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Decide: Is the total package good enough for me to want Congress to make it “a priority”
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If Yes, send the WebApp to everyone you know
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Then press two buttons to email your congressperson & senators:
“Make these 39 reforms a priority, or we will elect someone who will.”
Grand Bargain Unlocks Voters’ Deep Mistrust in Current Leaders
After voters evaluated the 39 reforms, YouGov asked :
“Who in the federal government do you trust to act in your best interests?”
With such low levels of trust, Trump, the Republican Party and Democratic Party can no longer lead.
If you, your friends & family use the WebApp,
members of Congress will have to follow your lead.
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To Unite 85% of Us Into an Exponentially Growing Movement, You Can Also:
Organize Workshops in Your Congressional Districts. We will help local groups across the country to engage, inspire and enroll citizens in building enough support for the Grand Bargain that political leaders will have to make it a priority.
Build the Coalition to Reunite America: We are inviting membership organizations in the various sectors of society to sign a petition demanding that politicians stop dividing us against one another and start turning the Grand Bargain into law.
Engage Civic Networks: Various Rotary Clubs, Braver Angels and other civic groups are working to incorporate the Grand Bargain into their community-building programs. We will help you enlist your organization.
Become a Volunteer to create a Local Grand Bargain Hub
Grand Bargain Articles
Join us in reuniting our country.
The Grand Bargain Project has gathered concrete evidence that common-sense reforms in all seven of the above areas, if combined, would yield vast benefits to society — enough so that 83% of Americans would prefer the total package over the country’s current direction.