Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Australia: Has it Cracked the Solution to Curb Smoking?

    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.

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  • How reformers beat the Koch brothers in South Dakota

    Ninety percent of Americans believe that the political system is broken and nothing can be done. Yet in 2016, South Dakota a state with low probability for political reform became the first state in a decade to adopt public funding of future political campaigns all thanks to a grass-roots citizens movement.

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  • Gerrymander reform opens up Florida politics

    For the third election in a row, House Republicans got bonus seats in 2016, through gerrymandering. Thanks to a grassroots citizen movement and computer sleuthing, Florida admitted to breaking the law and has replaced state maps with more competitive, voter-friendly districts.

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  • What Caused the Populist Earthquake of 2016

    In 2016, the US had a historically large populist backlash against the political establishment. This inspired Hedric Smith to highlight where and how political reform in the US has succeeded or failed in an Orcas Current Lecture Series.

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  • The Art of the Protest

    With a major political party taking over the presidency, most governorships, Congress, and state legislatures, the minority party can feel powerless. However, there are effective ways to organize protests including using humor, acting locally, and intense planning strategies.

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  • Estonia ditches paper with model e-governance services

    Through the Estonian government's e-services, which include digital options for voting, paying taxes, storing identification, and more, the country saved roughly €280 million over the span of a decade thanks to the lower cost of collecting digital signatures.

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  • In Uganda, Fostering a World without Adoption

    In Uganda, where international adoptions and orphanages are the most present form of child welfare, nonprofits like Reunite, Alternative Care Initiatives-Uganda, and CALM Africa are shifting the country to a welfare model focused on family reunification and community-based foster care. Although pilot programs are still small, there is also a focus on closing technical loopholes and providing practical support to encourage foster care programs.

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  • The Tiny NGO That Changed Reporting on Rio's Favelas During the Olympics

    Catalytic Communications provides resources to reporters to help them move beyond stereotypical ideas and present a multifaceted perspective of life in favelas. This is especially important during times like the Olympic Games when thousands of journalists arrive to cover a country they often know very little about. CatComm provides journalists with tools such as a list of underreported subjects and community leaders to contact and has actively informed over 200 articles. CatComm is also developing tools for their model to be created in other cities.

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  • Secret Cameras Record Baltimore's Every Move From Above

    Technology developed in the military to find who was planting roadside bombs to take out American soldiers has been adapted for civilian use by a former member of the Air Force, whose company seeks to work with police departments to use it to solve crimes. The airborne cameras provide hours of consistent surveillance and have proven highly effective at tracking down perpetrators so police can arrest them. But civil libertarians are alarmed what this widespread surveillance means and how it will be used, particularly since Baltimore officials did not tell the public about it for months.

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  • The people trying to save democracy from itself

    Low voter turnouts, populists offering half-truths, corporate interests, and the blurring of facts in the media are signs that democracy around the world is in turmoil. Internationally, citizens have assembled different programs and initiatives that arm ordinary people with information about policy and their elected officials, as well as distinctive ways to reform the electoral system.

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