BOOK REVIEW by Frank and Pat Venturo of the Voting Methods Team
OUR SHARED REPUBLIC: The Case for Proportional Ranked Choice Voting in the United States House of Representatives
Drew Penrose (Lead Author)
In this 214-page book published in 2023, Drew Penrose clearly explains proportional representation and why and how it should be used to elect members of the U.S. House of Representatives. He purposely limits his arguments to the problems caused by using only single-member districts with “winner-take-all” elections. He asserts that those problems might be solved by creating multiple-member districts using “proportional ranked choice voting.”
Drew Penrose has a long affiliation with FairVote, a nonprofit organization and lobbying group that was founded in 1992 as Citizens for Proportional Representation. The organization evolved as an advocate for all forms of Ranked Choice Voting and they oppose other alternative voting reforms. They promote Instant-Runoff Ranked Choice Voting (IRV) in single-winner elections and the proportional Single Transferable Vote (STV) for multi-winner elections.
Drew Penrose uses the term “proportional ranked choice voting” throughout the book instead of STV because, as he notes, “in the United States, the term ‘ranked choice voting’ applies to all voting methods that use a ranked ballot and where votes are counted in rounds, and this project is about the form of ranked choice voting that promotes proportional representation.” (For a more complete explanation of ranked voting methods see the LWVBC Voting Methods Team’s article, “What is RCV Anyway?”)
Apparently, this publication was compiled by several FairVote writers. It seems, however, that lead author and lawyer, Drew Penrose, framed this book as a legal brief arguing for legislation to change the U.S. House of Representative districts from “single-member” to “multiple-member” districts and to elect the Representatives using proportional ranked choice voting. The narrative is arranged in clear, deliberative discourse organization: (1) The problems with the current system of choosing members of the House of Representatives (2) A proposed solution for those problems (3) An explanation of how the proposed solution solves the problems of the current system and accrues additional benefits. His detailed table of contents makes it easy for the reader to find specific ideas in each section.
The emphasis of the book is established in the Introduction which explains why the textual account limits the focus to representation in the U.S. House and the use of proportional ranked choice voting to elect its members. It concentrates on the House of Representatives because, as Penrose says, that legislative body historically “holds a privileged place in our constitutional structure.” In the original Constitution, the House was “the only body in the Constitution directly accountable to the people themselves.” Reforming the structure and election process would create a better representative body and would influence the other branches of government. “A more effective and representative House of Representatives may not directly address the dysfunctions that exist in the other branches, but over time it may do so indirectly.”
The League supports alternative voting methods that can achieve proportional representation and improve the election experience. There are several methods that achieve that, including Single Transferable Vote (what Penrose calls proportional ranked choice voting), Proportional Approval Voting, and PR-STAR. There are good reasons to support each of these. Penrose reasons that proportional ranked choice voting is an easier method than other proportional voting methods to explain to voters who are accustomed to the single-choice plurality method (sometimes called first-past-the-post) primarily in use today.
Part One of the book advances arguments about why the current system for electing members of the House is not working: elections lack competition, polarized politics drives voter behavior, winner-take-all partisan representation is not full or fair, and communities of color and women are underrepresented.
- Most congressional districts do not have competitive elections to choose representatives. “In every election cycle, between 80 and 90 percent of congressional districts are in safe ‘blue’ or ‘red’ districts, making the general election a mere formality.” Redistricting is not effective in increasing competitive elections. Primaries, both open and closed, do not meaningfully help competition because primary elections typically have low and unrepresentative turnout.
- Partisan polarization is dangerous. “Polarization undermines trust in government and commitment to democratic values.” “The winner-take-all system incentivizes polarization by punishing compromise and rewarding political hardball.” Penrose insists that we must find ways to mediate underlying conflicts.
- Single-winner partisan representation prevents all voters from having a voice. Winner-take-all elections allow one group of voters to dominate. Voters for a losing candidate are casting “wasted” votes. This incentivizes the use of partisan gerrymandering. Penrose further explains how “single-winner districts systematically disfavor parties that do well in cities.”
- Relying on the creation of districts and the redrawing of districts does not serve the representation of communities of color. “It is effectively impossible to draw congressional district maps that include enough majority-minority districts to achieve fair representation through that mechanism alone. Relying on districts for representation leaves out voters of color who do not live within the confines of majority-minority or opportunity districts.”
- “Women comprise a majority of the population yet hold only 28 percent of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.” Single-winner districts are particularly bad for promoting gender balance in representation.
Penrose’s proposed solution to the current problems in selecting House members, which he posed in Part One, is proportional representation. Part Two of the book clearly explains his definition of proportional representation:
“Proportional representation means full and fair representation: To the greatest extent reasonably possible, like-minded groups of voters should earn representation in proportion to their share of overall votes cast.”
He follows this definition by contrasting proportional ranked choice voting to “winner-take-all” methods. Penrose again explains why he prefers this method claiming that it is “the most appropriate for elections to the U.S. House of Representatives because it is most consistent with our political culture and context.” Then, there ensues an argument for using it in multi-winner districts and how this could be implemented by the U.S. Congress with some simple legislation.
Part Three of the text shows that multiple-member House districts coupled with proportional ranked choice voting would accrue several benefits. Penrose asserts that most elections would be competitive. With increased competition, Representatives would be more accountable to the voters, making government more responsive. There would be full and fair representation. There would be better multiracial and gender balance in representation.
Our Shared Republic makes a clear, deliberative case for multiple-member congressional districts and strong arguments for the proportional STV form of ranked choice voting. It is a helpful introduction to proportional representation and promotes a useful understanding of the problems with single-winner districts and plurality voting.
You can access the book online through the link: https://oursharedrepublic.org/ where you can scroll down for a very readable edition complete with colorful graphs to illustrate Penrose’s arguments or download the book on Kindle for $.99. Paper copies are harder to come by, but Celeste Landry picked up a copy at the LWVUS convention and could lend you her autographed copy. Or you can acquire a print copy with a $25 donation to Fix Democracy First by contacting cindy@fixdemocracyfirst.org
For more information about proportional representation and voting methods which can achieve it, go to the LWVBC Voting Methods Team webpage.