[EL] Rick Pildes on political reform and polarization: (was ELB News and Commentary 9/27/19)

Fri Sep 27 14:29:37 PDT 2019

As an avowed and passionate system reformer, I appreciate Rick Pildes' post
below clarifying his position. Reforms can be valuable to pass even if we
should be aware of their limitations for addressing hyper-partisanship.

That said, I do think that rigorous examination of the incentives created
by certain rules compared to others is valuable. The fact that more people
are being attentive to the systemic basis for these incentives rather than
focus only on personalities and individual choices in my mind is healthy.

For instance, ranked choice voting in a hotly contested primary or other
election with more than two viable candidates does really change behavior
-- you can measure it, and you can have candidates talk about it. (See a
short Minneapolis Star Tribune video clip from a news conference the day
after Minneapolis' 2017 election for some fascinating testimonials
<http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-candidates-applaud-positive-campaigns-high-voter-turnout/456482923/>from
both winning and losing candidates.)

But would RCV alone end polarization? No and it would have particularly
limited impact on polarization in a classic race with a strong Democrat, a
strong Republican and minor candidates in single digits. At least t would
better ensure that the outcome in such races is representative of a
majority of voters.

However, I believe that combining ranked choice voting with multi-winner
districts, as proposed in the Fair Representation Act (HR 4000), would have
a more universally profound impact because it would reliably create
competitive, multi-candidate races where a candidate would want to reach
out to more backers of other candidates and where more voters would
reliably help elect someone, including backers of both major parties in
nearly every district.

This fair representation proposal was lifted up well in recent years folks
like Reihan Salam
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/opinion/how-to-make-congress-bipartisan.html>and
David Brooks
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/opinion/voting-reform-partisanship-congress.html>.
It also was consistent with the conclusions of a major review of  37
structural reforms
<https://www.fairvote.org/comparative-structural-reform>FairVote
did in 2015 with a team of scholars evaluating and rating them.

- Rob Richie

On Friday, September 27, 2019, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:
>
>
> Polarization and Political Reform <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107479>
>
> Posted on September 26, 2019 2:42 pm
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107479> by *Richard Pildes*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>
>
> In a NYT article today
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/climate/kathryn-murdoch-climate-change-voting.html>,
> John Schwartz accurately quotes me as expressing skepticism about whether
> various political reforms are likely to fundamentally transform the
> hyerpolarized politics of our era. I want to elaborate briefly on those
> comments, since John could only take a single line from our lengthy
> conversation.
>
> There are many political reforms I support, of course, including many
> mentioned in the article. I have written and litigated against partisan
> gerrymandering for decades; I support automatic voter registration; I’ve
> been a strong supporter <https://bigthink.com/u/richardpildes> for years
> of ranked-choice voting. Many good reasons exist to support these and other
> reforms, in my view.
>
> But I think it’s a mistake for reformers to believe, or to advocate, that
> these reforms will dramatically reduce the hyperpolarized dynamic of our
> politics. As I said in the NYT piece, and wrote
> <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1646989> about at
> length back in 2010, the polarization of our politics didn’t begin
> recently. It began in the late 1970s and has been increasing relentlessly
> ever since. This polarization is the product of large historical and
> structural forces. And precisely because that’s the case, it’s not likely
> that there are magic-bullet, specific institutional reforms that will
> fundamentally transform our polarized politics.
>
> Much of Western Europe is experiencing an increasingly polarized party
> dynamic as well in recent years, and many of these countries already have
> automatic voter registration and have their election districts (in
> countries that use districted elections) drawn by non-partisan bodies. The
> structural forces driving extreme polarization of democratic politics today
> are much deeper than can be cured by simple institutional changes.
>
> We should still support political reforms that are likely to improve the
> democratic process in a variety of ways. But we should not mislead
> ourselves or others into thinking that these reforms can dissolve our
> hyperpartisan structure of politics. Indeed, promising more than reforms
> can plausibly deliver can undermine the cause of reform itself, as voters
> become cynical when reforms that have been over-sold fail to work out as
> voters have been promised.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D107479&title=Polarization%20and%20Political%20Reform>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “Elections Could Expand Voting Rights This Fall. They Will Take Place in
> an ‘Intolerable Condition.'” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107480>
>
> Posted on September 26, 2019 2:25 pm
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107480> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Daniel Nichanian:
> <https://www.appealpolitics.org/2019/voting-rights-are-on-the-line-kentucky-virginia/>
>
> *Hundreds of thousands of citizens are barred from voting in Kentucky,
> Mississippi, and Virginia’s elections this November. And whether they get
> to participate in future elections will be perversely decided by those who
> are already allowed to vote.*
>
>
> * The electoral process “implicates every single thing about my current
> state, so to deny people the right to vote perpetuates an intolerable
> condition on human beings,” Shelton McElroy, a member of the grassroots
> group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC) who is disenfranchised
> himself, said in reference to Kentucky’s exceptionally harsh
> <https://www.appealpolitics.org/2018/kentucky-disenfranchisement/> criminal
> disenfranchisement laws. People who are barred from voting are organizing
> <https://www.appealpolitics.org/2019/massachusetts-lawmakers-consider-restoring-voting-rights-but-organizers-are-not-waiting/> around
> the country
> <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/09/us-prison-strike-latest-demands-voting-rights> to
> expand voting rights.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D107480&title=%E2%80%9CElections%20Could%20Expand%20Voting%20Rights%20This%20Fall.%20They%20Will%20Take%20Place%20in%20an%20%E2%80%98Intolerable%20Condition.%27%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in felon voting <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>
>
>
>
>
> Kathryn Murdoch, Daughter-in-Law of Rupert, Putting Big Bucks Behind
> Election Reform Group <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107477>
>
> Posted on September 26, 2019 1:25 pm
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107477> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> John Schwartz
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/climate/kathryn-murdoch-climate-change-voting.html> in
> the NYT:
>
> *Now, working with the nonpartisan group Unite America
> <https://www.uniteamerica.org/>, she is connecting like-minded
> organizations that are trying to overhaul the democratic process of voting
> to make it less likely to reward partisanship
> <https://www.uniteamerica.org/firstgrants>. She is also raising funds to
> ensure that the network will be effective.*
>
>
> * She and her husband have already invested millions in their work toward
> these ends, and are “anchor funders” in the larger plan, she said, with an
> ultimate goal that she characterized as being in the “nine figures.” (While
> she declined to be more specific, the lowest nine-figure number is $100
> million.)…*
>
>
> *She took a deep dive into possible solutions to partisan deadlock and
> reviewed the players in the diffuse field known as democracy reform: Small
> groups that push for changes in the electoral system. Some of the avenues
> her groups are pursuing include ranked-choice voting,
> <https://ballotpedia.org/Ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)> in which voters rank
> candidates in order of their preference. Proponents of this method argue
> that it reduces the tendency of primaries to reward candidates who work
> mainly to energize their base, and favors candidates who have the broadest
> appeal. She is also interested in initiatives to restrict gerrymandering
> and increase access to voting through proposals like automatic
> registration, as well as open primaries, in which voters do not need to
> declare their party affiliation….*
>
> *Sounding a note of skepticism, Richard H. Pildes, a professor at New York
> University Law School and an expert on constitutional law and democracy,
> said that democracy reform efforts were laudable but a long shot. They
> “might have effects at the margins,” he said, but “these reforms are not
> likely to fundamentally transform our politics from this hyper-polarized
> era we’ve been in for nearly 40 years.”*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D107477&title=Kathryn%20Murdoch%2C%20Daughter-in-Law%20of%20Rupert%2C%20Putting%20Big%20Bucks%20Behind%20Election%20Reform%20Group>
>
> Posted in alternative voting systems <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>
> , political polarization <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>
>
>
>
>
> “Disaster narrowly averted U.S. to remain in Universal Postal Union”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107475>
>
> Posted on September 26, 2019 12:24 pm
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107475> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Tammy Patrick: <https://electionline.org/electionline-weekly/#tab-1>
>
> *Fortunately, Deputy Post Master General Ronald Stroman and Election Mail
> Management Specialist Dan Bentley understand that tens of millions of
> American voters receive their ballot not by a poll worker, but from their
> postal carrier; and that delivering democracy is one of the USPS’s most
> critical functions. Thankfully the United States Postal Service (USPS)
> championed the need to consider election mail in the UPU withdrawal
> conversation at the very highest level of the agency.*
>
>
>
> * Yesterday, September 25, at the Extraordinary Congress meeting of the
> UPU in Geneva, an agreement was reached
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/business/universal-postal-union-withdraw.html> to
> remedy the disparity in rates to the satisfaction of the United States so
> that we will remain in the Union.  There will be no interruption in mail
> delivery globally. Ballots mailed out last week to voters will have the
> ability to be returned by post. Disaster narrowly averted. *
>
>
> * However, as details of the agreement unfold it will be important to
> understand the impact on prices for ballots.  CNBC reports
> <https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/25/postal-compromise-close-as-us-pushes-global-mail-reforms-amazon-fedex-impact.html> “the
> bulk of the changes would apply to letters and packages, under 4.4 lbs.,
> sent internationally. While a relatively small subset of global commerce,
> it captures military mail, absentee ballots, retail catalogs, trade
> journals and light e-commerce purchases.”  While we don’t anticipate that
> the increase will rival that of the prices private carriers, there may be
> changes to watch out for. Election officials should follow the Federal
> Voting Assistance Program’s guidelines
> <https://www.fvap.gov/eo/overview/sending-ballots/preparing-mail> on use of
> the proper postal indicia.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D107475&title=%E2%80%9CDisaster%20narrowly%20averted%20U.S.%20to%20remain%20in%20Universal%20Postal%20Union%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in election administration <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
>
>
>
>
> “Congress Has Used Campaign Finance for Impeachment Before: Here’s How To
> Do It Now” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107473>
>
> Posted on September 26, 2019 12:22 pm
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107473> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Ciara Torres-Spelliscy analysis
> <https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/congress-has-used-campaign-finance-for-impeachment-before-heres-how-to-do-it-now/>
> .
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D107473&title=%E2%80%9CCongress%20Has%20Used%20Campaign%20Finance%20for%20Impeachment%20Before%3A%20Here%E2%80%99s%20How%20To%20Do%20It%20Now%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
>
>
>
>
> “In rural Texas, black students’ fight for voting access conjures a
> painful past” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107471>
>
> Posted on September 26, 2019 12:21 pm
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107471> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> WaPo reports.
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-rural-texas-black-students-fight-for-voting-access-conjures-a-painful-past/2019/09/24/fa18e880-ca69-11e9-a1fe-ca46e8d573c0_story.html>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D107471&title=%E2%80%9CIn%20rural%20Texas%2C%20black%20students%E2%80%99%20fight%20for%20voting%20access%20conjures%20a%20painful%20past%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> My Thoughts on the Whistleblower Complaint
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107469>
>
> Posted on September 26, 2019 8:31 am
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107469> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> With the complaint
> <https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/20190812_-_whistleblower_complaint_unclass.pdf> released
> today, I’ve been tweeting about the case in this thread
> <https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1177209008488235008>:
>
> <https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
>
> <https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
>
> *Rick Hasen <https://twitter.com/rickhasen>*
>
> *✔@rickhasen <https://twitter.com/rickhasen>*
>
>
>
> <https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1177209008488235008>
>
>
>
> Among the most disturbing allegations are those of a cover up by White
> House lawyers and the deep involvement of AG Barr. He needs to resign or be
> removed from office immediately https://twitter.com/leahlitman/sta
> tus/1177206059917668352 … <https://t.co/HPuQ8jL2lR>
>
> <https://twitter.com/LeahLitman/status/1177206059917668352>
>
> *Leah Litman <https://twitter.com/LeahLitman/status/1177206059917668352>*
>
> ✔@LeahLitman <https://twitter.com/LeahLitman/status/1177206059917668352>
>
> Replying to @LeahLitman
> <https://twitter.com/LeahLitman/status/1177206059917668352>
>
> "white house lawyers" who attempted to bury the call -- because they knew
> it presented a national security concern and/or such a breach of official
> duties it would be impeachable -- please show yourselves:
> <https://twitter.com/LeahLitman/status/1177206059917668352>
>
> [image: View image on Twitter]
> <https://twitter.com/LeahLitman/status/1177206059917668352>
>
>
>
> <https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1177209008488235008>
>
> 1,618 <https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1177209008488235008>
>
> 6:11 AM - Sep 26, 2019
> <https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1177209008488235008>
>
> Twitter Ads info and privacy
> <https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
>
> <https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1177209008488235008>
>
> 688 people are talking about this
> <https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1177209008488235008>
>
>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D107469&title=My%20Thoughts%20on%20the%20Whistleblower%20Complaint>
>
> Posted in conflict of interest laws <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>
> , ethics investigations <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=42>
> Justice Ginsburg Says Justice Kennedy Was Primary Author of Unsigned
> Majority Opinion in Bush v. Gore <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107467>
>
> Posted on September 25, 2019 8:06 pm
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107467> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Mark Sherman <https://twitter.com/shermancourt/status/1176983696747970561> of
> the AP:
>
> <https://twitter.com/shermancourt>
>
> <https://twitter.com/shermancourt>
>
> *Mark Sherman <https://twitter.com/shermancourt>*
>
> *✔@shermancourt <https://twitter.com/shermancourt>*
>
>
>
>  · Sep 25, 2019
> <https://twitter.com/shermancourt/status/1176974197534396418>
>
> <https://twitter.com/shermancourt/status/1176974197534396418>
>
>
>
> Kavanaugh among the attendees at RBG, Sotomayor event at @librarycongress
> <https://twitter.com/librarycongress> honoring O’Connor #SCOTUS
> <https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash>
>
> <https://twitter.com/shermancourt>
>
> <https://twitter.com/shermancourt>
>
> *Mark Sherman <https://twitter.com/shermancourt>*
>
> *✔@shermancourt <https://twitter.com/shermancourt>*
>
>
>
> RBG identifies Kennedy as the author of the principal opinion in Bush v.
> Gore, which was an unsigned per curiam opinion. #SCOTUS
> <https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash>
>
> <https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1176983696747970561>
>
> 715 <https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1176983696747970561>
>
> 3:15 PM - Sep 25, 2019
> <https://twitter.com/shermancourt/status/1176983696747970561>
>
> Twitter Ads info and privacy
> <https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
>
> <https://twitter.com/shermancourt/status/1176983696747970561>
>
> 337 people are talking about this
> <https://twitter.com/shermancourt/status/1176983696747970561>
>
>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D107467&title=Justice%20Ginsburg%20Says%20Justice%20Kennedy%20Was%20Primary%20Author%20of%20Unsigned%20Majority%20Opinion%20in%20Bush%20v.%20Gore>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Rick Hasen
>
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
>
> UC Irvine School of Law
>
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/401+E.+Peltason+Dr.,+Suite+1000+%0D%0A+Irvine,+CA+92697?entry=gmail&source=g>
>
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> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/401+E.+Peltason+Dr.,+Suite+1000+%0D%0A+Irvine,+CA+92697?entry=gmail&source=g>
> -8000
>
> 949.824.3072 - office
>
> rhasen at law.uci.edu
>
> http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>
> http://electionlawblog.org
>
>
>
>
>
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