Outside the Beltway

You know, some light weekend thoughts.

The post really isn’t about Sinema as much as it about a theory of poltiics.

A damning number.

The saga continues.

Looking to Federalist 22.

I think this underscores the problem with the 60-vote requirement.

Assessing Republican strategic positioning (and the incentives in our system).

More voice, more votes, more representation.

With an appearance by Caitlyn Jenner’s choice of party.

A recent report shows 78 of 435 seats in the US House are truly competitive.

National Review’s Kevin D. Williamson advocates for less democracy in America.

How well do single-seat districts lead to representation? (And of what?)

The lack of common understandings and shared assumptions makes political conversations challenging.

Empowering authoritarians.

Our insistence on relying on an 18th Century understanding of electoral systems is our ongoing bane (if one values representative government).

Yes, partisanship is real. And it influences more than just voting behavior.

It is not a tool to foster compromise. It is tool of obstruction, plain and simple.

Voting ourselves out of this mess is not so easy

Let me point you to a reform proposal.

Will there be in-fighting? Yes. A break-up? No.

That’s unpossible!

Some Republicans are doing their jobs.

But, still very bad.

Gridlock doesn’t mean government stops. It just shifts who is governing.

How the EC affects our thinking.

What meanings might the Founders have had? How should we understand the term?

If we embrace the Founders to justify the present, let’s think about what we are doing.

I couldn’t help myself.

Having the topic of political reform start to seep into pop culture is a good thing.

Definitions are fun, right?

It is about finding ways to combat minority rule.

Thinking about wildfires and electoral politics.

A game wherein one team has to score more points to win than does the other.

A discussion of what #NeverTrump means, on Sanders v. Trump, and some about the philosophy of voting.

A reference point for the future.