Since the election of George Washington as the first President in 1789, the United States has held local, state, and federal elections every two years. It is an amazing accomplishment. Whether the US is a true democracy today, however, rests on what your definition of democracy is. In many places, democracy is surely still active. But in federal elections, there are problems that run deep in American democracy and the system’s integrity is declining and not improving. It is time surely for the United States to reform its electoral system and solidify a system of government that is honorable and democratic.

There was an interesting and lengthy new post on the subject of proportional representation written by Matthew S. Shugart at the blog Fruits & Votes. Shugart is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of California, Davis. Take a look at this excerpt:

A change to some form of moderate proportional representation (PR) is essential.

Given the current balance of power in the House, the Republicans would need to flip only about seven seats in 2022. (There are currently three vacancies.) With rare exceptions, presidents’ parties lose votes and seats in midterm elections. With the balance so tight, there is almost nothing to stop Republicans from winning back control of the House, other than perhaps if they descend into internal party chaos. They just might do that. They might even split. But I don’t like seeing the fate of the republic depend on Republicans finding yet another way to squander an easy electoral win that’s there for their taking.

I am not arguing for a change to PR only for the sake of the Democratic Party. In fact, my argument is that this is a way for Republicans to save their own party.

Also, see related Democracy Chronicles articles like those on the Founding Fathers, Election History, or even seen our section on American Democracy.