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Yeah, so the Gallup poll really should have another question asking about support for proportional representation vs. first-past-the-post.
by yorwba 3y ago
Yeah, so the Gallup poll really should have another question asking about support for proportional representation vs. first-past-the-post.
- bannedbybros 3y ago[dead]
- andrewflnr 3y agoIn my experience even politically engaged Americans don't tend to think about this question. Not that they'd disagree with probably representation, but they'll never bring it up before the specific policy issue du jour. Our parties have done an excellent job distracting us.
- rsynnott 3y agoJust due to the nature of the American system, it would be virtually impossible to introduce on a national basis, so there's arguably no sense in spending time talking about it.
- lazide 3y agoMany states also have deeply embedded 2 parties into their various laws and legal systems in different ways. A viable third, or fourth, or whatever party would have a LOT of friction to overcome to actually happen.
- andrewflnr 3y agoIt would be possible if we wanted it badly enough. Which can only happen if we talk about it.
- cschmidt 3y agoI don't think American voters could understand that very well. Where I live in Massachusetts they defeated a ballot initiative for ranked choice voting, which is just clearly better (in that it reflects the will of the people), especially in a state dominated by a single party.
- mattbrewsbytes 3y agoHow would proportional representation work? Party A gets 40% of votes so they get 40% of congressional seats in a state? Party B and C each get their respective proportion? Like it re-districts a state/county/town every year?
- arlort 3y agoYou would likely need to increase the number of seats (or allow "fractional" representatives for smaller states) so that even the smallest state gets 3-4 representatives And then yes, in traditional proportional systems you vote for a list of candidates rather than a single candidate, the lists are the ones getting the seats based on vote totals. The seats can be distributed based on a fixed or flexible lists model If you have a state that now has 10 reps each party would make a list of 10 people, then if party A gets 40%, party B 35%, C 15% and D 10% you'd get 4 people from the list proposed by A, 3 (or 4) from the list for B, 2 (or 1) from C and 1 from D
- lazide 3y agoCongress currently struggles to agree that a functioning federal gov’t is desirable (as in literally, not shut down is better than shut down).