Post-Partisan Forum: Escaping the Two-Party Doom Loop

Recent mid-cycle gerrymandering has pushed American democracy to a new low. Only 15 out of 435 House seats are now competitive, so few office holders have real doubts about reelection. In this environment, extreme partisanship leads citizens to tolerate blatant opportunism by their own party, because blocking the other side has become the overriding priority. Safe seats have eroded the incentive to serve the broader public, so that many Americans no longer believe Congress represents them. Recent polling shows 67% of voters feel neither Republicans nor Democrats adequately represent them, and 62% say the two major parties do such a poor job that additional parties are needed. Yet voters struggle to punish House members for nonperformance because voting against an incumbent feels like handing power to the enemy.

As an antidote to this mess, scholars have proposed a reform that goes far beyond independent redistricting commissions: proportional representation. No need for a constitutiona amendment—Congress can instead just repeal the 1967 Uniform Congressional District Act and adopt multi-member, proportional districts under its existing authority in the Elections Clause. Proponents argue this change would open the door to new parties, curb extremism, and strengthen incentives against corruption.

Join us at this month’s Forum to explore how proportional representation might work in practice and to debate whether its promises hold up. For a preview, you may wish to read or listen to Ezra Klein’s interview with Lee Drutman, author of Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop, available without paywall at https://tinyurl.com/38vpchhj.