Occupation Nonprofit Director Organizations founded Free Press Role Nonprofit director | Name Josh Silver Employer Represent.Us | |
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Born April 16, 1968 New York, New York, U.S. Education The Evergreen State College, Joseph Fourier University | ||
Josh Silver (born April 16, 1968) is the founder and director of Represent.Us, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to challenge the influence of money in American Politics. Silver formerly served as CEO and president of Free Press, an "activist group that promotes Internet openness." Silver also served as campaign manager of the successful 1998 "Clean Elections" ballot measure in Arizona. He has published widely on democracy, media, telecommunications, campaign finance and a range of other public policy issues. Silver has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal and featured in outlets including the New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Salon.com, C-SPAN, and NPR. He speaks nationally on democracy and issues of money in politics, and blogs at The Huffington Post.
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Background
Silver was born in New York, NY and grew up in Shelburne, Massachusetts. His mother, Genie Zeiger, an essayist, poet, and creative writing teacher, died in 2009. His father, Carl Silver, is a clinical psychologist in Western Massachusetts. Josh Silver has one sister.
In 1995 Josh Silver was on a river trip in Peru with a friend, Patchen Miller, when they were ambushed and shot; Silver was seriously wounded but survived; Miller did not.
Education
Silver attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and The University of Grenoble, France.
Views
Silver posits that the overwhelming influence of money in the American political system has a paralyzing effect on nearly every issue. He advocates using the term “corruption” to describe the combined influence of lobbying, the “revolving door,” and campaign contributions, and sees this corruption as afflicting politicians of both parties.
Silver argues that past campaign finance reform efforts have failed partly because they relied on passing reform legislation through Congress; he points out that members of Congress, who have achieved their positions under current campaign finance laws, are unlikely to approve legislation that would change those laws and limit the influence of the special interests and moneyed donors who have financed their political careers.
Silver advocates a grassroots campaign of citizen-led ballot initiatives passed at the city and state level to build momentum towards national reform. The organization he co-founded and directs, Represent.Us, was established to support these grassroots anti-corruption efforts.