Well I wish I could be as optimistic as Nick. But I don't see the path toward improving anything right now. Certainly there are many policies that would improve the situation if implemented, but how could we get them? If you make it easier for anyone who isn't an incumbent to run―well, politicians know the system isn't great, but it's a system where *they* know how to navigate and win.
And while I'm a big fan of Citizen's Assemblies and jury/lottery systems, it's just not an idea that gets much attention, right?
I am reminded that IRV and "preferential ballots" have been the most popular electoral reform idea for decades, in that people keep proposing them. But I examined the various options about 22 years ago and concluded that while first past the post (current system in US/UK/Canada) is the worst (least democratic with fewest desireable properties), IRV seems to be the second-worst, and "preferential ballots" are not an electoral system at all (they are a type of ballot, which could be paired with several electoral systems including IRV, Borda, or the various Condorcet systems). To be clear I'd be happy to get IRV relative to what we have now, but the point is just that it seems hard to get people to rally around ideas that are actually good, and much harder still to turn even mediocre ideas like IRV into reality.
Well I wish I could be as optimistic as Nick. But I don't see the path toward improving anything right now. Certainly there are many policies that would improve the situation if implemented, but how could we get them? If you make it easier for anyone who isn't an incumbent to run―well, politicians know the system isn't great, but it's a system where *they* know how to navigate and win.
And while I'm a big fan of Citizen's Assemblies and jury/lottery systems, it's just not an idea that gets much attention, right?
I am reminded that IRV and "preferential ballots" have been the most popular electoral reform idea for decades, in that people keep proposing them. But I examined the various options about 22 years ago and concluded that while first past the post (current system in US/UK/Canada) is the worst (least democratic with fewest desireable properties), IRV seems to be the second-worst, and "preferential ballots" are not an electoral system at all (they are a type of ballot, which could be paired with several electoral systems including IRV, Borda, or the various Condorcet systems). To be clear I'd be happy to get IRV relative to what we have now, but the point is just that it seems hard to get people to rally around ideas that are actually good, and much harder still to turn even mediocre ideas like IRV into reality.