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> I got pushback from several folks at the show, who all agree that we need a common fact base for any successful democratic system, and misinformation throws t
by anonymouskimmer 4y ago
> I got pushback from several folks at the show, who all agree that we need a common fact base for any successful democratic system, and misinformation throws that off.
No, we don't. We just need to each have a decent true understanding of how policy directly impacts us and those we care about. Then we apply our individual ethical weights and decide how to vote based on that.
> Maybe his suggestions won’t come to pass
Is it just me or are his suggestions never mentioned in this post? I think I read it all (though did not click on any of the links).
Personally I'd like to see the voting power in the house of representatives made proportionate to the number of people who affirmatively voted for each representative. I'd also like to see multi-representative districts so that everyone who got, say, 5% of the vote, is elected, with their voting power in the House proportionate to the number of people who voted for them. Do that and gerrymandering doesn't matter except at the absolute margin.
Maybe do the same with the Senate, except possibly keep it single-senator per state to make the minority party happy. I don't know. I'd also like to see three senators per state, one elected every two years. I'd be in favor of abolishing the Senate entirely, but I know that won't fly.
- shagie 4y ago> I'd also like to see multi-representative districts so that everyone who got, say, 5% of the vote, is elected, with their voting power in the House proportionate to the number of people who voted for them. Do that and gerrymandering doesn't matter except at the absolute margin. An example of this proposal and what it would do can be seen at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/10/opinion/house-representatives-size-multi-member.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/10/opinion/house... (though note it comes with "need more seats too" aspect). https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=616 https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=...
- anonymouskimmer 4y agoIt's fundamentally different in that each elected representative still has exactly the same single vote in congress. It is still somewhat prone to gerrymandering, and most importantly requires minor candidate voters to effectively vote along party lines (to the extent of including the most popular party member in their ranking list, to be ensured of at least one of their choices getting elected) instead of voting only for those they think represent their concerns the best. It also continues the effect of granting proportionately more voting power in Congress to districts with a small population. E.g. https://ballotpedia.org/Demographics_of_congressional_districts_as_of_2015 https://ballotpedia.org/Demographics_of_congressional_distri... - In 2015 just over 1 million people represented by the single Montana at-large district to just over half a million represented by the two Rhode Island districts.
- shagie 4y agoI'd suggest giving https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=616 https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=... a more careful read. > The Fair Representation Act would move US House elections into multi-member districts drawn by independent redistricting commissions, and elected through ranked choice voting. The multi-member districts would be effective in states apportioned six or more seats in the House, and would elect three to five Representatives each, depending on the size of the state. Taken together, these three measures would incentivize congressional candidates to appeal to a broader range of voters. The full text of the bill is https://beyer.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fair_representation_act.pdf https://beyer.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fair_representation_ac... And the FAQ is https://fairvote.org/our-reforms/fair-representation-act/ https://fairvote.org/our-reforms/fair-representation-act/