Reflecting All of Us: The Case for Proportional Representation: 1 (New Democracy Forum) - Softcover

Richie, Robert; Hill, Steven

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807044210 ISBN 13: 9780807044216

Publisher: Beacon Press, 1999

Synopsis

A lively dialogue on the power of electoral reform to strengthen our democratic institutions

Scholars, critics, reformers, politicians, and activists have for years asked why Americans are so uninvolved in the political process. Minority underrepresentation, the marginalization of progressive voices, the exclusion of the poor-these and other serious problems appear everywhere, from the pages of national newspapers to MTV.

Robert Richie and Steven Hill offer a powerful solution, one currently in practice in many parts of the world, including places in the U.S.: proportional representation. They demonstrate that unlike the winner-takes-all system, which always leaves the losers completely unrepresented, proportional representation gives all points of view a political voice; it works by giving citizens multiple votes or the right to vote for more than one candidate, or by giving political parties power according to percentages of votes received.

Esteemed thinkers-Cynthia McKinney, John Ferejohn, E. Joshua Rosenkrantz, Gary W. Cox, Daniel Cantor, Ross Mirkarimi, Anthony Thig penn, and Pamela S. Karlan-respond in essays discussing the forms proportional representation could take to operate best in the U.S. Their contributions underscore the concept at the heart of this book: the more people invested in the political process, the more democratic-and reflective of all of us-our system becomes.

NEW DEMOCRACY FORUM: A series of short paperback originals exploring creative solutions to our most urgent national concerns. The series editors (for Boston Review), Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers, aim to foster politically engaged, intellectually honest, and morally serious debate about fundamental issues-both on and off the agenda of conventional politics.

About this title

From the Publisher

New Democracy Forum--About the Series
The New Democracy Forum is a series of short paperback originals exploring creative solutions to our most urgent national concerns.

The series editors, Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers, aim to foster politically engaged, intellectually honest, and morally serious conventional politics. The Forum provides a non-partisan, intellectually open atmosphere in which scholars, policymakers, and activists offer concrete proposals and critical responses. The brief format and modest price of these volumes are designed to ensure wide circulation and provoke debate throughout our communities, universities, and government.

"One of the few places today where serious discussion on our political alternatives is flourishing. An antidote to complacence and conventional wisdom, New Democracy Forum offers hope of revitalizing American political debate." --Michael Sandel, author of Democracy's Discontent

"New Democracy Forum operates at a level of literacy and responsibility which is all too rare in our time." --John Kenneth Galbraith

"New Democracy Forum is both lively and serious about ideas and politics. It manages to convey the sense that there are things to discuss, and the discussion is actually there." --Robert Solow, Nobel Laureate in Economics

From the Author

This book is not just a theoretical discussion!
Thanks for your interest in "Reflecting All of Us." Steve Hill and I work with the Center for Voting and Democracy, which seeks to work with reformers around the country interested in implementing proportional representation voting systems and other reforms such as "instant runoff voting." If our book catches your attention, please consider contacting me. You might discover that there already are reformers seeking change in your city or state. Let's make the new decade one to remember for our democracy! Thanks, Rob Richie

Edition details

• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807044210
• ISBN 13: 9780807044216
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 80