Independent voters—the 40–50 percent of Americans who reject identification with either of the two major parties or with any party—are increasing in number and impact. Independents are determining the outcome of major elections, upending the long-held categories of political science. Drawing on historical and contemporary data (including survey data, participant observation, interviews, and current writings and scholarship) and providing timely new analysis, the authors argue that independents are an engine for a transformation of US democracy, perhaps even its saviors. Rather than “leaning” to a party or an ideology, independents vary on issues but share a deep distrust of the partisan system. What are the consequences of this distrust? What about shifting trends among Black, Latino, and Asian communities regarding party loyalty? What of young voters who eschew party identification wanting a different kind of political culture? For a wide variety of audiences, this book gives students, scholars, campaign professionals, activists, and media analysts an insight into current voting dynamics and future possibilities.

”The Independent Voter does a fantastic job chronicling the rise, and power, of the fastest-growing segment of the electorate in the United States. It is clear that more and more Americans are tired of partisan gridlock and want their leaders to be public servants, not party servants. Republicans and Democratic leaders should take note and anyone interested in the future of American Democracy should read this book.” -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Former Governor of California

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Democracy Unchained: How to Rebuild Government for the People, published by New Press, addresses the complex question of how to make our American democracy work to solve problems that have long impaired our system of governance. This collective work of thirty of the country’s most perceptive writers, practitioners, scientists, educators and journalists includes a chapter on the 42% of Americans who are independents. Co-authors Jackie Salit and Thom Reilly examine the power of independent voters and the pivotal role they can play in responding to the systemic failures in our political system in their chapter “Can Independent Voters Save American Democracy? Why 42 Percent of American Voters Are Independent and How They Can Transform Our Political System.” On sale now.

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Both major parties, acting as if they are equivalent to the government, have created a matrix of laws, practices and precedents that make them "too big to fail," even as they have failed to move our country forward. Meanwhile, over 40% of Americans now identify themselves as independents, not as loyalists to any political party—major or minor. These voters migrate from candidate to candidate (Obama in 2008, Trump in 2016) searching for ways to put our country on the right track.

Years of putting partisan interests ahead of humanist and developmental needs have eroded public trust in the parties. Yet the political system binds us to those parties and discriminates against any voter who does not give blind loyalty to a partisan way of seeing the world. This must change.

Americans must be free to vote in all elections no matter their party status. Americans must be free to converse and to coalesce across party, racial, social, ideological and economic barriers. We need an election system that supports that kind of mobility.

The American people, by working together to retool our political system, can overcome the divisions that polarize us, rebuild our national infrastructure and deliver a decent life for all. We strive for an Independent America.

The "9 Questions for the 44%" survey asked unique questions about how independents view their place within the political system, their relationship to the parties and the rules of the electoral game. Independents from all 50 states participated and registered deep distress with the current political process and a strong desire to level the playing field.

Click Here for Survey Results

Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University and the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy have teamed up with Independent Voting to examine the independent voter phenomenon and the impact that it is having on the American political landscape. Their findings have been outlined in the briefing paper Gamechangers?: Independent Voters May Rewrite the Political Playbook released October 4, 2017.

"Like Einstein's theory of relativity or Galileo's insistence that the earth revolves around the sun, new ways of seeing the dynamics of our world can be gamechanging," said Jacqueline Salit. "In our work with USC’s Schwarzenegger Institute and ASU's Morrison Institute, we're showing the world new ways of seeing the independent voter. This will have a dramatic impact on the politics of our country."

“The rising number of voters in the United States who are registering and identifying as 'independent' is a very important phenomenon and is already impacting local, state and national elections,” said former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Understanding who these voters are and what they care about is essential to a strong democracy, and I am proud to have my Institute involved with this study.”

Joseph Garcia, a lead author of the report and Director of Communication & Community Impact and Director of the Latino Public Policy Center at the Morrison Institute added this: "This paper provides an important foundation for a better understanding of independent voters, as well as the underreported undercurrent of independent sentiment in a traditionally viewed political world that is still very much controlled by the two major parties. That long-held duo control is becoming more tenuous, however, as more voters disassociate themselves with polarizing partisanship and constricting party lines by joining the independent movement -- either by action, name or both."

Click Here to Read "Gamechangers"

"We launched EYES on 2020 in January of this year to address a hidden form of voter suppression in our national election process -- the exclusion of close to 26 million independents from the presidential primaries. We wanted to test the willingness of the parties to adapt themselves to a new and permanent set of circumstances in our democracy -- namely that upwards of 44% of Americans have become independents. They have no intention of giving up their independents to join a political party."

Jackie Salit, President

Click Here to Read "EYES on 2020: An Interim Report"