The Project Vote Smart Pledge
I believe that government of the people, by the people, and for the people is a grand but recent event in human history. The protection of that hard-fought and painfully gained freedom, earned by others, falls anew to each succeeding generation. Whether it is family or neighbor, born or yet-to-be-born, self-sacrifice in the protection of others before one’s self is its requirement.
I believe that, as in the past, the struggle to remain free falls hardest on those familiar with that past, aware that in all societies, in all cultures, and in all of history there are those who seek unearned and undeserved advantage—even in this newfound democracy designed to strip away such advantage.
I believe that the greatest advances in human history have been nurtured by a free and democratic society where progress is inexorably linked to the people’s access to abundant, relevant, and factual information about the issues confronted by our society and the candidates who want to represent our will.
I believe that only through free and easy access to the information that each citizen sees as essential to wise and prudent decision-making can people successfully continue to self-govern.
I recognize that although I may personally disagree with a citizen’s point of view, each citizen is rare, each with a worthwhile and unique experience in life that can add value to our collective effort to design a free and fair society.
It is in part for these reasons that I have chosen to forgo financial gain and pledge my ability and efforts to the success of Project Vote Smart in both principle and practice. Having no expectations of financial rewards, I commit my services in the hope that Project Vote Smart will be able to build a safe and dependable harbor to which each citizen, liberal or conservative, might turn in confidence for that most essential component of any successful struggle to self-govern: accurate information.
To this end, I volunteer my energies and further pledge that while working at Project Vote Smart:
- I will not lobby for or against any partisan cause or promote any political self-interest;
- I will not actively support or oppose any political candidacy;
- I will treat each citizen with courtesy and respect;
- I will treat each candidate with equal deference; and
I will do these things to help ensure that Project Vote Smart remains without corruption, both intellectually and financially as well as in appearance and reality.
I pledge this in the hope that my efforts will help add some small measure of security and nourishment for democracy and the freedom that is its product.
