Are you proportional representation curious?
An event with the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Hello, hello!
We’ve got a nifty event for you!
Want the 101 (and 201, and 301) on proportional representation? How might it impact polarization? How about historically underrepresented groups?
Join Democracy Notes and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences on 2/24 at 1pm ET for a deep dive into “PR.” Registration is here!
We’ll hear from:
Grant Tudor, Policy Advocate at Protect Democracy,
Didi Kuo, Center Fellow at the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, and
Colin Cole, Director of Policy, Outreach, and Communications at More Equitable Democracy.
We’ll dig into:
What proportional representation actually means (myth-busting time!),
How moving to PR would impact goals like improving representation and reducing polarization, and
The key design choices and tradeoffs for policymakers to consider.
Registration is here. Can’t wait to see you there!
And for some great pre-event reading…check out the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ October 2025 report, “Expanding Representation: Reinventing Congress for the 21st Century.” It’s excellent!
Gabe
Nope; PR committed.
I am writing from New Zealand, where we employ the MMP system of proportional representation. Please be aware that this system has not worked well in New Zealand, where the main problem is minor parties negotiating policy "deals" to enable to the major party to govern. The end result is that weak major parties allow unpopular policies to be forced through government. In our experience, the coalition governments that can arise in PR style democracies can be just as ineffective as FFP style democracies. Having experienced both forms, I think there has to be better solution and present some thoughts here: https://medium.com/@cliffwainui1/our-democracies-are-breeding-grounds-for-inequity-and-discontent-this-is-because-5bfa5810a96e