Why Proportional Representation Could Make Things Worse
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Description
We have deep reservations about any proposal to replace our current system of single-member districts (SMDs) and first-past-the-post (FPTP) elections by amending federal law to permit or require states to use multimember districts (MMDs) to elect members of Congress. For proponents, the point of doing so would be to achieve proportional representation (PR) in the US House of Representatives. In the fall of 2020, some 200 academics sent an open letter to Congress urging it to permit states to do so. The Fair Representation Act, introduced in the House in 2021, would, among other things, require states with two or more congressional districts to elect House members from MMDs using a form of PR based on ranked-choice voting (a system otherwise known as the single-transferrable vote [STV]). The purpose of such proposals is to enable the creation of a House comprised of five or six political parties. To the extent that Chapter 3 might be read as encouraging such changes, we would not want our silence to be taken as an endorsement. We will refer here to proposals for MMDs for Congress as proposals for PR.
First Page
161
Source Publication
Electoral Reform in the United States: Proposals for Combating Polarization and Extremism
Source Editors/Authors
Larry Diamond, Edward B. Foley, Richard H. Pildes
Publication Date
12-5-2024
Publisher
Lynne Rienner Publishers
Recommended Citation
Richard H. Pildes,
Why Proportional Representation Could Make Things Worse,
Electoral Reform in the United States: Proposals for Combating Polarization and Extremism
161
(2024).
Available at:
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/2125
