The organization's stated issue areas are "money in politics", "voting and elections", "ethics", "a fair economy", and "media and democracy".
Constitutional conventions Common Cause opposes and actively lobbies against modern-day efforts to call an
Article V convention to propose
amendments to the United States Constitution by both
progressive and conservative groups, such as that by the progressive
political action committee Wolf PAC to limit large monetary donations to political candidates parties and groups, which is backed by some Republican politicians. In a May 2016 report entitled ''The Dangerous Path: Big Money's Plan to Shred the Constitution
, Common Cause wrote that "There is nothing to prevent the convention, once convened, from proposing additional changes that could limit or eliminate fundamental rights or upend our entire system of government." While a constitutional convention could conceivably overturn the controversial Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC'' and limit the role of money in politics (as advocated by groups such as
Wolf PAC), Common Cause suggests that the risk of a
runaway convention is too great because "state legislatures, the majority of which are controlled by Republicans, would likely control the agenda at a constitutional convention" and as a result it is extremely unlikely "that a convention controlled by those legislatures would really do anything productive on money in politics, on voting rights, on democracy in general". Any amendments would need to be ratified by three-quarters of the states.
Ethics Common Cause lobbied Congress to pass the
Ethics in Government Act of 1978, requiring government officials to disclose their finances and restricting the "
revolving door" between government and business. In 1989, they lobbied for passage of a new Ethics in Government Act, which ended special-interest honoraria for members of Congress and closed a loophole that allowed members to convert campaign funds to personal use. The organization's efforts led to ethics probes and the resignations of
House Speakers Jim Wright in 1988 and
Newt Gingrich in 1995. During the 2016 presidential elections, Common Cause suggested that the
Clinton Foundation would create ethics and conflict of interest challenges for
Hillary Clinton should she become president. They criticized Hillary Clinton's plan to give
Chelsea Clinton control of the foundation and called for an independent
audit and full disclosure of the foundation's donors. The public interest group also criticized
Donald Trump for his refusal to release his tax returns during the
2016 presidential election. The organization has been outspoken about the potential conflicts of interest from Trump's businesses and called for Trump to put his assets into a
blind trust instead of handing over control of his businesses to his children.
Money in politics In 1972, Common Cause sued President
Richard Nixon's re-election campaign, the
Committee for the Re-Election of the President, under the
Federal Corrupt Practices Act in an attempt to force Nixon's campaign to report early campaign contributions. The lawsuit forced the disclosure of the names of several Nixon donors. In 1974, Common Cause supported passage of the
Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), encompassing public financing of presidential campaigns and oversight of campaign ethics through the
Federal Election Commission.
Publicly-financed elections Common Cause has advocated
public financing of elections in order to decrease the influence of special-interest contributions. The group's most successful
campaign finance reform efforts have been in New York City in 1999; Connecticut in 2005;
Montgomery County, Maryland in 2014; Portland, Oregon in 2016; Howard County, Maryland in 2017; Prince George's County, Maryland in 2018; and California.
Voting and elections Redistricting The organization has sought to end the practice of
gerrymandering in several states. In 2016, it filed a lawsuit in North Carolina challenging the constitutionality of district maps. The organization's North Carolina chapter has led a campaign to create a nonpartisan redistricting process, which has bipartisan support in the state. Common Cause is also challenging redistricting in Democratic-controlled states, such as Maryland. Common Cause took a neutral position on
2025 California Proposition 50, which led to several advisory board members of the California branch resigning in protest.
Voting machines Common Cause advocates a
voter-verified paper audit trail for election machines in all states. The organization has documented complaints about
electronic voting machines.
National popular vote Common Cause is in favor of establishing a national
popular vote for presidential elections to replace the current
electoral college system. Following the November 2016 U.S. presidential election, Common Cause called for the
National Popular Vote Compact to counteract what it called the "anti-democratic" outcome in that election.
Voter identification Common Cause is partner organization of
VoteRiders. ==Organizational overview==