Let me briefly defend @ezraklein's claims about the centrality of polarization to America's problems against @ezraklein's argument that the "dearth of the democracy" is really America's biggest challenge.https://www.vox.com/21561011/2020-election-joe-biden-donald-trump-electoral-college-vote-senate-democracy …
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At the presidential level Ds do have a popular advantage. But if you start the current era with Bush v. Gore, their average popular vote advantage is +2.5. If you compare that the average presidential margin in any 20th century period, that's small bordering on infinitesimal.
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This suggests to me that the GOP's countermajoritarian advantages are, indeed, preventing it from having to make certain moderating adaptations -- but those missing adaptations are the policy/rhetoric equivalent of a 2% shift in public opinion, not some dramatic leftward move.
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Which suggests, in turn, that what's gridlocking American government above all at the moment is the fact that *both* coalitions are stuck around 50 percent - Dems maybe just above, Rs just below - not that the Ds have a big popular mandate that's being unfairly blunted.
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Note that we we tested this in 2020 by achieving incredibly high turnout, and got -- the same basic kind of highly polarized, small-D-margin popular-vote result for both the presidency and the House.
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So, long and short, I think breaking out of polarization would transform American politics far more than just bringing House/presidential results perfectly in line with popular vote totals. Now go buy Ezra's book.
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But if HR 1 passed, a lot more non-voters might vote and most would probably vote Dem. And what if apportionment was handled by non-partisan commissions?
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Which, if I understand Ezra's point, would de-escalate tensions somewhat because people would actually be able to see the outcomes of policy, rather than have politics default to a stagnant identity battle.
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Or Rs would moderate unpopular positions like tax cuts for corporations/rich. Rs presently shielded by +6 (or whatever) lean in Senate and EC.
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So we just have to break up the big states until the Senate resembles the House! It's the only thing that is Constitutional and requires only a majority in Congress.
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