Begun to shift momentum towards proportional multi-member districts through original research, organizing hundreds of top political scientists to publicly speak out, and generating new media coverage.
Shaping the Democracy of Tomorrow
Our Work
Sustainable democracy requires governing institutions that are representative of and responsive to the needs of all — not just the few or the loudest.
Today, the authoritarian threat doesn’t just come from specific politicians or political factions. Authoritarian-enabling features of our system — such as the non-representative composition of Congress or the inability of political parties to preserve democratic norms — are feeding cycles of polarization and rewarding authoritarian politics.
Stopping this threat requires bold and ambitious long-term strategies to ensure that the Democracy of Tomorrow better reflects the will of all Americans and is oriented towards collaboratively addressing our country’s most pressing challenges.
- Make our political parties more responsible promoters of democracy.
- Replace winner-take-all elections with more proportional systems of representation.
- Legalize fusion voting to help break the two-party doom loop.
Several provisions of the Protecting Our Democracy Act, a package of democratic guardrails reforms we helped Congressional leaders assemble, were signed into law by President Biden.
Impact in the News
Political Violence & US Democracy Political Violence & US Democracy
Proportional representation, explained
Proportional representation is an electoral system that elects multiple representatives in each district in proportion to the number of people who vote for them.
December 5, 2023
Federal Appeals Court Rules for Free Speech & Free Enterprise, Rejecting Florida Law Censoring Private Companies’ Speech on Race and Gender
In a major victory for free speech in the workplace, a federal appeals court affirmed the injunction against the employer provisions of HB 7.
March 4, 2024
Fusion voting, explained
Fusion voting allows more than one political party to nominate the same candidate on the ballot, empowering minor parties to unite a cross-ideological coalition behind a single candidate
December 19, 2023
The Case for Multiparty Presidentialism in the U.S.
In this paper, we argue that presidentialism and PR for the U.S. House would be an effective combination for American democracy.
December 14, 2023
Fusion Voting and a Revitalized Role for Minor Parties in Presidential Elections
An electoral practice that once allowed minor parties throughout the country to exert real influence in politics — fusion voting — could help defend U.S. democracy.
December 14, 2023
Proportional representation, explained
Proportional representation is an electoral system that elects multiple representatives in each district in proportion to the number of people who vote for them.
December 5, 2023
Op-ed: The Thanksgiving table approach to fixing American politics
OP-ED: Our country’s strength comes from diversity of opinion. Let’s design our elections accordingly.
November 23, 2023
How open are Americans to electoral system reform?
A new Thanksgiving-themed poll finds a broad appetite for proportional representation.
November 21, 2023
What Trump’s courtroom antics are really telling us
Donald Trump's actions in court exemplify something dangerous: a former president resisting any accountability under the law.
November 7, 2023
Lessons for Practitioners: From Understanding to Action
The goal of this afterword is to draw out the essential lessons for those pursuing solutions to American political parties’ current challenges.
October 17, 2023
More Than Red and Blue: Conclusion
This report exists because political scientists are alarmed by the real possibility of serious democratic backsliding in the United States.
October 17, 2023