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Idea

American democracy should embody the true pluralism of our country—the many backgrounds, ideas, religious traditions, and institutions that define our shared experience—and our systems of voting and representation should encourage responsiveness and new coalitions in the face of changing public challenges. That’s why, since 2005, Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ has gone beyond familiar solutions to improve democracy to explore real alternatives to the winner-take-all election structures that shut out new ideas and new coalitions.

Incubation

In the 2000s, Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ fellows advocated instant-runoff voting in San Francisco and other localities, and more recently, Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½â€™s Political Reform Program has been one of the leading voices for both ranked-choice voting and multi-member legislative districts. These two electoral structures ensure that more viewpoints are reflected and that candidates have to seek broad support.

Impact

With Maine becoming the first state to implement ranked-choice voting and to use it to determine the outcome of a congressional race, we have the beginnings of a real test of these ideas, and the Political Reform program will continue to study them closely, looking for lessons for other states and for ideas to improve this innovative system.