Real choices new voices: how proportional representation elections could revitalize American democracy

There is a growing realization that many of the problems afflicting American elections can be traced to the electoral system itself, in particular to our winner-take-all approach to electing officials. Douglas Amy demonstrates that switching to proportional representation elections -- the voting system used in most other Western democracies, by which officials are elected in large, multimember districts according to the proportion of the vote won by their parties -- would enliven democratic political debate, increase voter choice and voter turnout, ensure fair representation for third parties and minorities, eliminate wasted votes and "spoliers," and ultimately produce policies that better reflect the public will. Looking beyond new voting machines and other quick fixes for our electoral predicament, this new edition of Real Choices/New Voices offers a timely and imaginative way out of the frustrations of our current system of choosing leaders. Columbia University Press Contents......Page 8 List of Tables and Illustrations......Page 10 Preface to Second Edition......Page 12 Introduction......Page 18 1. Fair Representation for All......Page 42 2. Solving the Redistricting Problem......Page 69 3. Improving Election Campaigns......Page 85 4. Toward a Multiparty System......Page 105 5. Electing More Women......Page 126 6. Fair Representation for Racial and Ethnic Minorities......Page 142 7. Encouraging Voter Turnout......Page 168 8. PR: A Different and Better Kind of Democracy......Page 184 9. Objections to Proportional Representation......Page 203 10. Versions of Electoral Reform for the United States......Page 232 11. The Political Prospects for PR in the United States......Page 252 A. Seat Allocation Formulas in Proportional Representation......Page 276 B. Vote Counting and Ballot Transfer in the Single Transferable Vote......Page 280 C. The Forgotten History of Proportional Representation in the United States......Page 284 Notes......Page 292 Selected Bibliography......Page 316 Additional Resources on the World Wide Web......Page 322 A......Page 324 B......Page 325 C......Page 326 D......Page 328 E......Page 329 F......Page 330 G......Page 331 I......Page 332 L......Page 333 M......Page 334 N......Page 335 P......Page 336 R......Page 339 S......Page 341 T......Page 343 V......Page 344 W......Page 345 Z......Page 346

The 2000 presidential election was a wake-up call for many Americans. When George W. Bush became president while Al Gore won the popular vote, many Americans realized for the first time that our arcane system of elections could malfunction. Looking at presidential elections as well as the voting system used to elect officials to local, state, and federal legislatures, Douglas J. Amy persuasively argues that plurality rules are unfair, outmoded, and undemocratic and that the United States should adopt a different electoral system -proportional representation -by which officials are elected in large, multimember districts according to the proportion of the vote won by their parties.