That happens routinely in the places with the best scores on Democracy indices like Germany and New Zealand. It works better than our system because they *only* get 31% of the seats and need to compromise with other parties in policymaking. Here, just 40% support is enough to win *absolute* power.

Same here. Libertarian is another possible term, but after the MAGA-aligned takeover of the Libertarian Party in Reno in 2022 (only undone at Grand Rapids a couple months ago), "classical liberal" is arguably less muddy. plato.stanford.edu/entries/libe...

"Immigration backlash helped push extreme-left attacks past the extreme right for the first time in 20 years, new data show" Congrats, I guess? www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

And for that blasted ballroom. But this gave me a laugh.

They'd do a *lot* more good by supporting #ProportionalRepresentation instead. In WTA races, 60% of the vote is as good as the 90%, so map-drawers can maximize the former. With PR, you'd *lose* as many seats as you gain. @prorepcoalition.bsky.social @fixourhouse.bsky.social @fairvote.bsky.social

Seems apropos.

"Trump Says Iran 'Better Not Be' Charging Hormuz Strait Tolls" Or else...? www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

Oh, I so need to get some of these!!

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" - Rush, "Circumstances" (The more things change, the more they stay the same.) Image via @LPNational on Twitter.

Israel's unusual geopolitics makes it hard to generalize from, but nationwide districts are almost as bad as single-seat districts (e.g., the US). Constitutional law professor @maxwell-stearns.bsky.social argues in "Parliamentary America" to avoid both too few and too many parties. (1/2)

Interesting paper from Westward et al, thanks. It focuses on whether *most* people support poltical violence. I agree 100% that most do not. But in terms of trend over time, it looks like it's an upward one to me. (1/2) bridgingdivides.princeton.edu/key-politica...

With the government shutdown "preventing" the jobs report, investors are predictably turning to private alternatives. And predictably, they are *confirming* the weakening labor market that led Trump to fire Erika McEntarfar at BLS. www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...

Quite predictably, the party in power gets blamed for government shutdowns, and in this case they control all three branches. www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

I simply prefer large sample sizes as a better way to draw conclusions and avoid the tendency to cherry-pick the most vivid examples. Regarding both Italy and Israel, I think @maxwell-stearns.bsky.social made a good case that you want to avoid both too few and too many parties. (1/3)

Unlike the US, Israel's problems are created by external forces instead of internal. Plus, if you look at a larger sample size, PR on the whole outperforms two-party countries (particularly in regards to polarization and political violence). protectdemocracy.org/work/proport...

Making America more like China. When youth unemployment in China became political inconvenient, they stopped reporting it. With inflation still rising and the job market significantly slowing, the US is stopping hunger statistics. Very ominous. www.wsj.com/economy/trum...

And France uses a two-round majoritarian system, not PR. Regarding extremism, political scientist @leedrutman.bsky.social has a great Twitter thread here on the topic: x.com/leedrutman/s...

Multiparty countries do very well on a variety of metrics of a country's health, whether you look at the EIU's Democracy Index, V-Dem preferred by political scientists, Chandler's Good Governance, etc. What is your preferred metric for the health of a country?

I grew up in the 70s and remember the long lines for gas stations and high inflation. It's a reason I studied econ and a reason I followed the story about Erdogan calling for lower rates despite high inflation in Turkey. Scary to see attacks on central bank independence here.

That's because they didn't foresee a two-party system which ensures one party controls at least 2/3 branches. Many of the Founders hated political parties altogether and didn't expect them to form (perhaps not realizing they were inevitable due to economies of scale). @prorepcoalition.bsky.social

Cross-country analysis shows that, to get more viable parties, aim to increase the district magnitude (i.e., #ProportionalRepresentation) and/or assembly size. But better winner-take-all methods lik RCV/STAR/Approval can also help by strengthening alternative parties. jstor.org/stable/2939053

Yes, @mathintee.bsky.social has a great book on its history, detailing how it injects a great deal of randomness without helping small states at all. Fun fact, EC supporters saw it as closest they could get to a popular vote against the main competing proposal -- a parliamentary system!

Indeed, I spend most of my free time advocating for electoral reforms that would break up the duopoly to create a multi-party system as in most modern democracies, particularly in Europe. That would provide fair representation, not just to Libertarians, but also Greens, women, minorities, etc.

And oh, how I wish we had your system. I'm a big fan of @maxwell-stearns.bsky.social book that argues for three Constitutional Amendments that would make us a multi-party parliamentary system.

Pick your preferred metric of the health of a country (whether EIU's Democracy Index, V-Dem favored by political scientists, Chandler's Good Governance Index, etc.), and I'm willing to bet that PR countries do very well on it.

As I see it, the biggest obstacle to alternative parties is the need to finish first in an election in order to win a seat. Multi-party countries like Germany, New Zealand, and Sweden have plenty of minor parties in office, even though those small parties can't support a chief executive either.

Yes, implementing a multi-party system in the California state legislature via #ProportionalRepresentation is exactly what @prorepcoalition.bsky.social is working towards. Join us! www.prorepcoalition.org/get-involved

Well, there is *some* evidence on reducing polarization: protectdemocracy.org/work/proport... And although this is just correlation, the top countries in various indices of democratic health do tend to be PR countries across multiple continents (e.g., EIU, V-Dem).

I guess even here, some people have trouble handling disagreement even when presented in a civil and polite manner. Too bad for them.