This is a report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. I’ll just quote from the executive summary to describe its scope and purpose:
>The paper intends to be an accessible resource for understanding what proportional representation is, how it might be designed for U.S. elections, and why it should be considered as a potentially powerful reform given the existing and growing evidence of its impact.
**Edit: Here’s a little elevator pitch** for anyone who isn’t familiar with proportional representation and wants to know why you should spend time reading this.
In the US, we elect legislators in single-member districts. This is sometimes called “winner-take-all”, since whichever party gets the most votes in a district gets all the representation. In contrast, most advanced democracies use proportional representation. There are many versions of it, but the common feature is electing representatives from multi-member districts. Seats in the district are allocated according to the proportion of the vote each party gets.
Because of this, the majority still gets most of the seats, but the minority gets their fair share, too. This is the reason why most democracies have more than two parties. This is also why gerrymandering isn’t an issue for these countries: if seats are awarded proportionally, drawing districts in funny ways doesn’t substantially change the result.
Lastly, it’s worth emphasizing that in the US, we take it for granted that most seats are safe for one party or another–hence the heated fights we’re seeing right now regarding redistricting. In other words, almost all American voters live in a district where their vote will not affect the outcome of the election. This is nuts! With a proportional electoral system, everyone is in a multi-member district, so whether you support a large or small party, your vote is likely to count for something. In other words, proportional representation is how you make sure that the composition of the legislature is determined by how citizens vote in the election, rather than by the districting process. **The existence of safe seats is not normal. We don’t need to accept it!**
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This is a report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. I’ll just quote from the executive summary to describe its scope and purpose:
>The paper intends to be an accessible resource for understanding what proportional representation is, how it might be designed for U.S. elections, and why it should be considered as a potentially powerful reform given the existing and growing evidence of its impact.
**Edit: Here’s a little elevator pitch** for anyone who isn’t familiar with proportional representation and wants to know why you should spend time reading this.
In the US, we elect legislators in single-member districts. This is sometimes called “winner-take-all”, since whichever party gets the most votes in a district gets all the representation. In contrast, most advanced democracies use proportional representation. There are many versions of it, but the common feature is electing representatives from multi-member districts. Seats in the district are allocated according to the proportion of the vote each party gets.
Because of this, the majority still gets most of the seats, but the minority gets their fair share, too. This is the reason why most democracies have more than two parties. This is also why gerrymandering isn’t an issue for these countries: if seats are awarded proportionally, drawing districts in funny ways doesn’t substantially change the result.
Lastly, it’s worth emphasizing that in the US, we take it for granted that most seats are safe for one party or another–hence the heated fights we’re seeing right now regarding redistricting. In other words, almost all American voters live in a district where their vote will not affect the outcome of the election. This is nuts! With a proportional electoral system, everyone is in a multi-member district, so whether you support a large or small party, your vote is likely to count for something. In other words, proportional representation is how you make sure that the composition of the legislature is determined by how citizens vote in the election, rather than by the districting process. **The existence of safe seats is not normal. We don’t need to accept it!**