On Tuesday, Greenbelt, Maryland residents voted to use ranked choice voting in local elections. It is now up to the City Council to act.

A new publication, which emerged from the Academy's Our Common Purpose work, proposes alternatives to the “winner-take-all” system used in most U.S. elections. The proposed alternatives have the potential to reduce partisan divides and virtually eliminate gerrymandering.

America’s system of representative government faces a dire threat. Both major parties are openly racing to redraw congressional maps mid-decade, purely for partisan gain. This gambit undermines the very essence of representative government and ritualizes the process of legislatures—themselves frequently produced by gerrymandered maps—choosing winners instead of the voting public. With more than 7,000 state and federal political...

In April 2025, the Democracy Transformation Project at Democracy Rising launched its second cohort, bringing together 25 Women of Color democratic leaders working to build political power in their local communities. This powerful gathering centered on members of the inaugural cohort "passing the torch" to the new leaders, as they continue the vital work of transforming our democracy.

This week the D.C. council added funding for ranked choice voting to the 2026 budget, which is set for a vote later this month.

Lawmakers, emboldened by their safe seats in gerrymandered districts, have actively limited engagement with their constituents.

Charlottesville’s experiment with proportional ranked choice voting is swiftly approaching, with the Democratic primary for City Council set for June 17. The new (to Charlottesville at least) voting system was adopted on a trial basis in a 4-1 split vote by City Council on September 3, 2024. In the months leading up to the primary, […]

Peter Buisseret is currently an Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard University. His research uses formal theory to study how electoral and legislative institutions shape individual and collective choices. His current research focuses on direct democracy, multi-issue elections, and ranked choice voting (together with Carlo Prato). He holds a BA (2003) from Oxford, and a PhD (2015) in Politics from Princeton University. He previously held faculty positions at the University of Warwick (Economics) and the University of Chicago (Public Policy).

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The Future of our Former Democracy EP 1 - The Water We Swim In: America’s Winner-Take-All Electoral System American Democracy sucks right now! More specifically, the United States' electoral system is outdated and needs reform to better represent its diverse population. George Cheung and Colin Cole from More Equitable Democracy probe what the U.S. can learn from Northern Ireland's adoption of proportional representation to overcome political divisions and achieve fairer representation. The episode examines the origins of the American electoral system, critiques its current inefficiencies, and makes a case for rethinking democracy by looking at Northern Ireland. Through historical context, personal stories, and expert interviews, the podcast seeks to inspire listeners to consider radical changes that can lead to a more equitable and representative democracy.

Our elections are broken: but we can make them work for everyone. Check out what our democracy could look like in an election that uses ranked-choice voting to elect multiple representatives for one district. To learn more and get involved, go to representingwa.org Chapters: 0:00 We can make democracy better 0:19 Proportional representation 0:33 Ranked-choice voting & multi-member districts 1:45 How it works 3:12 No more splitting up the vote 4:47 Where this is used

Today, our elections aren't working. We're digging into the root issues that are keeping us stuck: and some common-sense, proven ways to make our democracy better. Learn more and get involved at representingwa.org Chapters: 0:00 Our democracy is stuck 0:29 WA doesn’t have fair representation 1:10 Problem 1 - Lack of representation 2:13 Problem 2 - Negative campaigning 2:56 Problem 3 - Lesser of two evils 3:33 What we can do about it