Lee Drutman
American political scientist; senior fellow at New America and author of Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop (2020), an argument for proportional representation and multiparty democracy in the United States.
Lee Drutman did not write this page.
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Their wordsWhy isn't November the election that matters? Single-member districts are the problem. Primary reform doesn't fix that.
↗“Open the primaries” is the wrong answer to the right questionleedrutman.substack.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Our reading
Representatives elected in open-primary states are no more independent or bipartisan than others.
Their wordsRepresentatives elected in open primary states do not behave any differently in Congress. They are not more independent or more bipartisan.
↗“Open the primaries” is the wrong answer to the right questionleedrutman.substack.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 13 days earlier
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Their wordsI think the moment has changed: it may now be both possible and necessary to do electoral and campaign finance reform together.
↗Campaign finance reform for a multiparty Americaleedrutman.substack.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsA campaign finance system for a multiparty electoral system should have four components: public funding for qualifying state parties, small-donor matching to state party organizations, contribution limits that privilege the party channel over the candidate channel, and aggressive original-source transparency for independent expenditures.
↗Campaign finance reform for a multiparty Americaleedrutman.substack.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 3 days earlier
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Our reading
Gerrymandering cannot simply be banned, because there is no single definition of a fair map.
Their wordsFair maps require a definition of fair. There isn't one. There are infinite ones.
↗Why you can’t just ban gerrymanderingleedrutman.substack.com
- 2 months earlier
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Our reading
The governing party always loses popularity, so Democrats' coming wins will not last on their own.
Their wordsThey ignored the most predictable dynamic in democratic politics. The governing party always loses popularity, and public opinion always moves against it.
- 4 months earlier
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Their wordsI see multiparty proportional representation as the most important reform necessary to break America’s destructive two-party doom loop, which remains on magnificent, disheartening daily display.
- 3 weeks earlier
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Their wordsOne-dimensional partisan conflict is authoritarian-friendly territory.
↗The moderation debate fiddles with 2% while democracy’s dimensionality collapsesleedrutman.substack.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsMaybe fielding more centrist candidates wins Democrats a few more elections. Maybe it doesn’t. But either way, the argument is about one or two percentage points. And it does nothing to address the core two-party doom loop wrecking our politics.
↗The moderation debate fiddles with 2% while democracy’s dimensionality collapsesleedrutman.substack.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 8 weeks earlier
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Their wordsAnd the United States primary system — already the most open in the world by far (even in so-called “closed” primaries) — creates distinctly weak political parties that do not invest in young talent.
↗Why America Has the World's Oldest Politiciansleedrutman.substack.com