The American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ working group on electoral system design today released Expanding Representation: Reinventing Congress for the 21st Century which reimagines how Americans elect their leaders. The new report is part of the cross-ideological, multi-year Our Common Purpose project to strengthen American constitutional democracy.
The report’s authors argue that the “winner-take-all” system used in most U.S. elections—where only the top vote-getter earns a seat—contributes to polarization, disengagement, and a lack of meaningful competition. By contrast, proportional systems allow more voters to see their preferences reflected in Congress, can reduce partisan divides, and virtually eliminate gerrymandering.
“This report is rooted in optimism about what is possible for American democracy,” said Laurie L. Patton, President of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. “When every vote counts, when voters feel they have real choices, and when Congress more closely reflects the views of the American people, our democracy will be stronger and more resilient.”
The Academy’s electoral system design working group of scholars, legal experts, advocates, and practitioners reviewed a wide range of evidence from academic sources, new public opinion research, and perspectives from policymakers to explore how proportional systems could be designed for the United States. The report emphasizes that change would not require amending the Constitution; Congress could simply revise the 1967 law mandating single-member districts and allow states to adopt more representative models.
The report recommends abandoning winner-take- all and moving to a system that includes multi-member districts with three to eight seats to ensure broader representation. An expanded House of Representatives, which would bring representatives closer to constituents and create more room for innovation in electoral design, could facilitate this change.
Expanding Representation builds on the 2020 report, Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century, which outlined 31 recommendations to strengthen civic life. Authored by the cross-ideological Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, it recommends replacing single-member districts with a type of proportional system for electing the U.S. House of Representatives. The new report provides a comprehensive and accessible resource on how such reforms could be implemented.
The Academy is grateful to Danielle Allen of Harvard University, Stephen Heintz of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Eric Liu of Citizen University, for their invaluable leadership and guidance as the Academy works to further the recommendations in the Our Common Purpose report.