Proportional Representation: Publications, Events and More

State Republican Committee dumps winner-take-all policy

Political Reform — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:24:00 -0400

Rebuffing efforts by Mitt Romney loyalists, the Republican State Committee this week changed its policy of committing all the state's delegates to the winner of the presidential primary.

The winner-take-all policy had been championed by Romney backers -- including national committeeman Ron Kaufman -- when it came before a committee established to determine convention rules, according to other committee members. The rules committee approved the policy, 9 to 3.

But the broader state committee -- some of whose members are supporting Senator John McCain and Rudy Giuliani in the presidential primary -- rejected it, 31 to 17, this week, saying it… more

Brown to set out plans to cede powers to parliament

Political Reform — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:35:00 -0400

Gordon Brown will today spell out his plans for reform of the House of Commons as he seeks to restore public trust in the political process.

In his first full statement to the Commons since becoming prime minister, he will reveal his intention to move power away from the government and towards parliament, with proposed measures including giving MPs the right to vote on issues of war and peace.

Mr Brown is expected to relinquish royal prerogatives traditionally exercised by the prime minister - such as the power to declare war without parliamentary approval - and to give MPs… more

Dozen seats to be won and lost on transfers

Political Reform — Fri, 25 May 2007 15:42:00 -0400

The final seats that decide the balance of power in the 30th Dáil will come down to the crucial but volatile system of vote transfers.Now that first counts are being completed, party strategists will be anxiously studying which candidates get second, third and lower preferences on ballot papers.The Single Transferable Vote (STV) part of the Proportional Representation (PR) system gives a sharper insight into the behaviour of voters than any other voting method.Experts believe that up to a dozen marginal seats in this election will be decided by transfer votes. more

New America Foundation in the Sacramento Bee on Growing Political Middle

Communications — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 22:36:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Last month's election provided new evidence that while politicians from the two major parties fight their shrill ideological battles -- egged on by radio and cable television talkers -- they represent ever-shrinking constituencies and thus are becoming increasingly disconnected from the larger society.

The political middle, disenchanted with the confrontational and ultimately meaningless tone of contemporary politics, has been growing. The number of voters who register as Republicans or Democrats in California has remained unchanged for a decade and a half while the ranks of independent voters have swelled to nearly a fifth of the total...

That's why, for instance, California's two major parties, which agree on practically nothing in the policy realm, joined arms to successfully challenge voter-approved open primary elections. Open primaries would allow cross-party voters and independents to make decisions on party nominees, thereby threatening the stranglehold of liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans on their parties' dynamics.

And that's why leaders of the two major parties in the Legislature conspired after the 2000 census to redraw 173 legislative and congressional districts to designate each district's party ownership, minimize interparty competition and make the closed party primary the vehicle for electing officeholders...

Opening up California's political process by breaking up the partisan monopoly is not rocket science. Shifting redistricting from politicians to an independent commission, reinstating the open primary, removing the legal barriers to independent candidates, using "instant runoff voting" rather than winner-take-all for some offices, and divvying up legislative seats proportionately are all proposals to bring more small-d democracy to the process.

Think tanks and independent foundations such as the Irvine Foundation and the New America Foundation are making noise about reform, but there's a potentially fatal Catch-22. State legislators won't embrace reforms that threaten their own power, and groups with vested interests in the status quo would spend lavishly to defeat reforms on the ballot.

For the complete article, please visit the Sacramento Bee website.

Proportional Voting

Political Reform — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 00:09:00 -0400

Overview. California’s representative government is plagued by an unprecedented number of noncompetitive elections. The Legislature is highly partisan because over 90 percent of legislative districts strongly favor one political party over the other. Incumbents are not accountable to voters and act without fear of losing re-election.

In the past, states like Arizona, Iowa and elsewhere have attempted to increase competition with independent redistricting commissions. But in recent years these commissions have proven to be less effective, as Democratic and Republican voters have become increasingly segregated into regional partisan strongholds (known as “red and blue… more

Citizens Assembly

Political Reform — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 12:05:00 -0400

The Problem

A number of promising reforms have been proposed for making the California political system more representative and responsive— from independent redistricting, term limits, and open primaries to more modern electoral systems and public financing of campaigns—but all face the same obstacle: entrenched interests, including elected lawmakers, who benefit from the status quo.

One means of removing partisanship and incumbent protectionism from the political reform process is known as a Citizens Assembly, which convenes a body of average citizens empowered to formally propose electoral reforms that politicians have too strong a conflict of… more