Outside the Beltway

Matthew Shugart on the Downballot.

A real example of American exceptionalism.

Because sometimes the comment box is just too small.

A lot of folks who study democracy have sent an open letter to Congress.

Meeting with people who are essentially couplotters should be disqualifying.

The NYT and CA41 and yet another example of telling the wrong story.

Hopefully answering a reader question (but probably just making it all worse).

Our representation problems are far, far more about structure than they are about the messaging of the parties.

A potentially more representative map that still underscores deep flaws in our system.

And other tales from the AK special election.

No, presidentialism does not lock us into two parties.

Greatest democracy in the world, right?

Data from Texas underscore a frequent point about primaries.

While there is an investigation, it doesn’t appear ballots were sold for “$10 a piece”

A roundup of reflection on a somber anniversary.

The effective number of parties.

This time: some multi-party examples.

Politicians controlling lines control voters (instead of voters controlling politicians).

Our system and the shaping of the GOP’s future.

The erosion of representativeness continues.

Canada has more parties than the US, but still suffers representation problems due to FPTP elections.

The system is not defensible.

For anyone who might be interested.

Hungary is part of a broader global trend, but the real issue isn’t Hungary, it is the Americans who praise Hungary.

This time: the Alaska GOP.

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

A new poll from Texas give us a chance to think about parties and nominations in the US.

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

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

Some reflections

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.

There won’t be a Lincoln Party. It isn’t sustainable.

A defense of the indefensible.

SCOTUS and “faithless electors.”

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

We are truly exceptional in how we choose the president.

Some context for ongoing discussions.

Forget the “republic v. a democracy” abstraction. The numbers show some serious flaws in translating popular will into government.

President Trump continues to deny the reality of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, and he’s failing to act to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Intelligence officials are warning that the Russians are set to seek to influence the 2018 elections just as they did in 2016. Despite this, the Trump Administration refuses to acknowledge this publicly while the President seeks to undermine the investigation into past Russian interference.

Negotiations over government formation is not a crisis.

Voters rank factors before choosing how to vote.

We will have a two party system for the foreseeable future.

Decision rules matter.

A piece at Foreign Policy provides a chance to give some thought to institutions.

Representative democracy is a process of delegation of power to agents who act on behalf of citizens. The process of delegation matters.

Another study shows that voter ID laws negatively affect a lot of Americans.