On November 15th, Fix Our House, New America, and Protect Democracy hosted a discussion about the collapse of competitive elections in our democracy and pathways for reform. The popular focus on gerrymandering overlooks the fact that winner-take-all elections are primarily responsible for robbing millions of voters from having a meaningful say in elections. Congress has the power to move the House to a more proportional system of representation that would address the root causes of our uncompetitive elections, along with the growing threats of extremism, violence, and division that are currently exacerbated by our winner-take-all elections.

Key questions included:

• Why are so many elections uncompetitive?
• How do uncompetitive elections result in gridlock and polarization? What’s at stake here?
• What are the root causes, and what role does gerrymandering play in this crisis?
• How could a reform like proportional representation calm some of the extremism and rising threats of political violence?

Speakers:

• Jennifer Victor, Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University
• Brendan Nyhan, James O. Freedman Presidential Professor in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College
• Aziz Huq, Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law at the University Chicago
• Lilliana Mason, SNF Agora Institute Associate Professor of Political Science at John Hopkins University
• Lee Drutman, Fix Our House Co-Founder and Senior Fellow at New America