Last month, Protect Democracy and the American Political Science Association released a report titled More than Red and Blue: Political Parties and American Democracy, which explores the state of American politics and outlines possibilities for change. This post responds to Chapter 7, which details the roles of state and federal politics in democratic backsliding. 

Implementing proportional ranked choice voting (RCV) for state legislative elections is a clear solution. By reducing the effects of gerrymandering, proportional RCV would help make state representatives accountable to local preferences and democratic institutions. 

As author Jake Grumbach points out, state governments have control over several key democratic institutions – redistricting, election administration, vote counting and certification, etc. It’s good that states have these responsibilities, providing a key check and balance on the federal government. At the same time, one state alone could endanger democracy by, say, submitting a false slate of presidential electors, or blocking the certification of results. 

Yet, while democracy is clearly decentralized, the two major parties are not, Grumbach tells us. Once distinct entities that championed local issues, state parties are increasingly focused on national partisan issues. This is especially true when the federal government is gridlocked and unable to act on these issues. As a result, national parties and interest groups are investing more in state-level politics, and states are becoming hotspots for national partisan conflict. 

This both lessens the importance of local issues and incentivizes state legislators to act against local preferences. For example, Georgia has some of the nation’s strictest marijuana penalties, despite a majority of Georgians supporting legalization. This is not to say the penalties are right or wrong, but only that they seem to reflect a national partisan preference rather than the preferences of Georgia voters. For another example, most California voters are concerned about violence and street crime in their communities, yet California legislators passed a host of reduced sentencing laws last year. 

State legislators can often avoid accountability to their voters because they control democratic institutions, especially redistricting. For example, legislators can gerrymander so their party wins a share of seats far larger than their support in the electorate, giving themselves free rein to implement their party’s national agenda. 

Proportional RCV is a structural solution that would protect democracy by dramatically reducing state legislators’ ability to gerrymander. Legislators would be elected in larger, multi-winner districts, and parties would win seats in proportion to the share of votes they receive. Because there are simply fewer lines to draw, and the results would be proportional regardless of the lines, gerrymandering would be ineffective. 

As a result, proportional RCV would restore accountability. Legislatures would be less likely to enact policies that most voters disagree with, because the makeup would accurately reflect voter preferences. 

Proportional RCV would also help restore the importance of local issues. If we used proportional RCV to elect state legislators, we would see multiple Republicans and Democrats competing for the same batch of seats. When candidates have to compete with members of their own party, they need more than national partisan positions to stand on, and could benefit from campaigning on local issues. 

Moreover, representatives from the same district would have an incentive to work together on local issues, since they need backup-choice support from each others’ supporters to be re-elected. This increase in cross-partisan collaboration and policymaking would lead to more functional legislatures – a virtuous cycle.

Several municipalities already use proportional RCV to elect their local legislators. The Fair Representation Act would institute proportional RCV for federal elections, but implementation at the state level would also deliver important benefits.

Between democratic backsliding and the nationalization of partisan politics, we desperately need to protect democracy. Proportional RCV would do that by preventing gerrymandering and restoring accountability in state legislatures.