"The public doesn't have a lobbyist!"

That outburst drew nodded heads from a group of 16 people gathered in one of more than 180 "Community Conversations" held recently to discuss Michigan's future.

Many people have grown steadily disillusioned with state and national politics. Nearly two decades ago, columnist and author E. J. Dionne noted that "on issue after issue, there is consensus on where the country should move or at least about what we should be arguing about," yet "liberalism and conservatism make it impossible for that consensus to express itself."

Possibly in response, the proportion of political independents in America has risen from about 25 percent to nearly 40 percent since the early 1990s. The Center for the Study of the Electorate at American University found that in nearly every state the number of independents is growing faster than Democrats or Republicans.

Organized pragmatism may be on the way. In "Thinking & Doing," a new paper commissioned by nonprofit Center for Michigan, author and historian James Tobin points to: "an emerging middle way in American politics – a state-by-state constellation of pragmatic 'think-and-do tanks' seeking to break stalemates created by polarized parties and government by selfish interests."

Tobin details six such groups. The agenda-setting Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MASSInc) has a budget of more than $2 million. Unions and Republicans collaborated through the Iowa Policy Project to develop tax incentives for a growing wind energy industry. To fight a chronic dropout problem, The Center for the Future of Arizona detailed the successes of a dozen high-performing Latino schools.

The Center for Michigan has rallied volunteers who've so far devoted more than 6,000 hours to creating a "Michigan’s Defining Moment (MDM)" vision and strategy for a more prosperous future. Statewide leaders are beginning to pay attention – numerous candidates in this year's state elections are adopting the MDM agenda as their platform.

According to Tobin, think-and-do tanks argue that:

• Single-interest groups wield far too much influence over parties and office-holders.
• Effective governance is crippled by the endless chase for campaign cash.
• Term limits threaten to turn compromise into a long lost political art.
• Gerrymandered legislative districts push out moderates and solidify the power of hardened, partisan caucuses.

"The public sees the system as badly broken, so public engagement in civic life declines," Tobin concludes. "So voting declines and fewer capable people run for office – which accelerates the downward spiral of governance-as-usual, which in turn erodes public confidence further."

Think-and-do tanks are working to reverse that grim feedback loop. They represent a new and promising way to bring public will and common sense back to our democratic institutions.

"If we are one of the oldest surviving democracies in the world, we’ve got to figure out how to make democracy work in the 21st century," says Sterling Speirn, president of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a MDM sponsor.

Phil Power, a former newspaper publisher, is founder and president of The Center for Michigan.