One can ask what most accurately describes the essence of intelligent, objective, public service-oriented politics. Is it primarily an honest competition among the dominant ideologies of our times, a self-interested quest for influence and power or a combination of the two? Does it boil down to understanding the biological functioning of the human mind and how it sees and thinks about the world? Or, or is it something else entirely?

In a country with almost 320 million citizens, the secret ballot in elections almost ensures one simple fact--that voting fraud will exist, either from voters or the structure itself.

The secret ballot isn't a truly time honored institution in America -- only universally applied for a little over 100 years. In fact, Grover Cleveland was the first U.S. president elected exclusively by the secret ballot.

While everyone was toasting in the new year, few likely saw the major election news that broke on December 31. The Baltimore Sun reports that Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley failed to qualify for the Democratic presidential primary in Ohio, another major blow to a struggling campaign.

As around a dozen armed protesters gathered at the unoccupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in rural Oregon, angry over the federal government’s resentencing of local ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond, in an arson case related to locally-controversial Bureau of Land Management regulations on land use, the mainstream media cast aside its journalistic responsibility and instead took on the more profitable role of a fight promoter.

Reinvention is the key and peacemaking is the heart of today’s revolution.

Building peace requires fixing government. Only 19% of Americans trust our government to do the right thing and 75% of Americans believe corruption in government is widespread. We have to restore trust at the same time we make decisions as one nation about what kind of America we want to be and what our role is to be on our shared planet in the 21st century.

The discussion of Social Security is normally a shouting match. One of the most divisive aspects of the discussion is the system’s trust fund.

At this point, the discussion of the Trust Fund is little more than a competition of dueling hyperboles. On one side, the Trust Fund is the more space efficient version of Fort Knox. On the other, it is an accounting gimmick that funnels cash to the general fund to be spent on other programs.

On Sunday, Cheryl and I joined millions of Americans to watch the Season Premiere of Downton Abbey. As we are drawn to their lavish 1920s lifestyle, we also retain a degree of detachment, knowing that it soon will come to an end. Unfortunately, in too many ways the England of Downton Abbey is too similar to the America of today.

Downton Abbey is the tale of a family steeped in traditions, yet engaged in excessive spending and entitlements. They continue these practices despite repeated warnings that they are not sustainable.

Since the end of the Franco dictatorship in the mid 1970s, Spanish national politics has largely been dominated by two political parties: the conservative People's Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).

Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson are currently two top contenders for the Republican nomination. Trump remains the leader with 35.6 percent of the polls, while Carson was in second but recently slid into fourth place behind Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Their popularity, however, stems from their outsider status as neither has held elected office before.

The end of a year is an important time for reflection. In order for a person or organization to grow they need to continually ask themselves: What has gone well for me so far? What can I improve on? As the new year approaches we here at The Centrist Project wanted to take a look back at our experience thus far so we can take the lessons learned with us into 2016 and beyond. Here are a couple of the big ones: