In the summer of 1970, Gardner took what he called "the biggest gamble of my career," and founded Common Cause, a citizen's advocacy group. In his work in government and in the Urban Coalition, Gardner saw that there were a lot of strong special interests, but no one pushing for the concerns of average citizens interested in the greater good. With disenchantment in government growing, Gardner's idea was planted in very fertile soil, and in 23 weeks, 100,000 people signed on to Common Cause's mission to make political institutions more open and accountable.
