WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the co-founders of Fix Our House announced the launch of a new education and advocacy campaign for proportional representation in the House of Representatives. The new campaign will promote proportional representation as an urgently-needed reform to break American politics out of its doom loop of polarization and dysfunction, sideline the anti-democratic forces waging war on the democratic process, and offer America’s diverse electorate full and fair representation in the House of Representatives.
“Our political system is stuck in a toxic and polarized two-party system, and the only way out is to attack the problem at its core by finally addressing our broken winner-take-all elections,” said Dr. Lee Drutman, Fix Our House co-founder, senior fellow at New America and author of "Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America." “The vast majority of Americans who feel frustrated and voiceless should know that there is a better way – a proven system that is already being used by the majority of advanced democracies across the world: multimember districts and proportional representation.”
“Politics in America is badly broken and unless serious reforms are made, it is only going to get worse,” said Eli Zupnick, Fix Our House co-founder and former Senate communications director. “Proportional representation is getting more and more traction as a serious and achievable reform to pull us back from the precipice and offer more Americans a true voice in our democracy. We’re excited to get to work with the many others who care about the future of our democracy to raise awareness of proportional representation and do whatever we can to position it to advance when the window of opportunity opens.”
“The United States will only succeed as a multiracial democracy if we make serious structural reforms, and the clock is ticking,” said Dr. Charlotte Hill, Fix Our House co-founder and researcher at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. “The good news is that a growing number of scholars and activists understand that proportional representation is the path forward. Proportional representation is essential for ending gridlock and dysfunction and building a stronger democracy.”
Fix Our House will have a singular focus: making the urgent case for proportional representation in the United States House of Representatives. Moving to proportional representation in the House wouldn’t require a constitutional amendment, just a repeal or reform of a 1967 law prohibiting multimember districts.
Fix Our House will be working with others to build a broad coalition of advocates prepared to spread the word about proportional representation and build the support it needs for it to be implemented when the window for reform opens. Initial Fix Our House advisors range from progressives to conservatives who share an interest in fixing our broken democracy and sidelining emerging anti-democratic forces, including: Niko Bowie, George Cheung, Kristin Eberhard, Mindy Finn, Archon Fung, Jake Grumbach, Meagan Hatcher-Mays, Aziz Huq, Adam Jentleson, Ted Johnson, Lilliana Mason, Glenton Richards, Cynthia Richie Terrell, Drey Samuelson, Sara Sadhwani, Mark Schmitt, Waleed Shahid, Michael Sozan, Alex Tausanovitch, Miles Taylor, Grant Tudor, and Lucille Wenegieme.
As part of its launch, Fix Our House is rolling out a statement signed by a broad initial group of political scientists, democracy reform advocates, and civil and voting rights experts calling for proportional representation as the “clear, proven, and constitutional solution to many of the challenges facing our country.” Members of the public can add their name to the statement here.
Fix Our House is an independent project currently being incubated in New America Foundation’s Political Reform program. To learn more, follow Fix Our House on Twitter at @FixOurHouse and on Facebook at @FixOurHouseCampaign. If you want to sign up for Fix Our House’s press list, email press@fixourhouse.org.
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