Lee Drutman

@leedrutman.bsky.social

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Political scientist. Multiracial, multiparty democracy enthusiast. Radical empiricist.
- Substack: https://leedrutman.substack.com
- Podcast: http://politicsinquestion.com
- Senior Fellow: New America
- Co-Founder: https://www.fixourhouse.org

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Lee Drutman

"With the unknown candidates, there is more upside potential. Novelty is always a powerful force in politics. And the electorate right now is screaming for something new and different," writes @leedrutman.bsky.social. leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-many-u...

The many uncertainties of saying good Bidenleedrutman.substack.com Sometimes the risk of staying the course is greater than changing the course. Here’s how I’m thinking about the choice Democrats have to make, and the consequences for 2024 and beyond.

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Many democracies have unrepresentative upper chambers. But nearly all have long since either relegated the upper chamber to a ceremonial position or one with a very limited set of powers. The US is unusual in granting equal or even more power to a chamber with a historic bias toward just one party.

If you saw the Senate in another country, you'd think it was a preposterously undemocratic institution leedrutman.substack.com/p/wither-the...

Wither the Senate? New substack from me: leedrutman.substack.com/p/wither-the...

“Our brains are deeply attuned to possible threats, and so we have a strong negativity bias in how we process the present... we are constantly getting triggered. This makes us especially likely to see the present moment as a crisis.” leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-surpri...

The Surprisingly Predictable Reason Why Trump Nostalgia Is On the Riseleedrutman.substack.com Memory plays deceptive (and sometimes dangerous) tricks on us. Yet arguing with people’s memories seldom succeeds.

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“Young voters do not look at our politics and see any good guys. They see a dying empire led by bad people.” It may be just a big coincidence that this is the message of Chinese propaganda and a Chinese media source is the main source of info for many young people. May just be a big coincidence.

‘A dying empire led by bad people’: Poll finds young voters despairing over US politicswww.semafor.com A new survey may help explain Joe Biden’s recent struggles with the under-30 set.

It makes no sense. When Donald Trump left the White House in 2021, only 41 percent of Americans considered his presidency a success. Now, three years later, that number has jumped to 55 percent. It’s the same presidency! What gives? leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-surpri...

"We must revitalize America’s party system so that compromise and coalition are rewarded and valued. The two-party system is a failure, but democracy is not." www.thebulwark.com/p/the-power-...

The Power of Fusion Votingwww.thebulwark.com . . . to fix our dysfunctional politics and loosen the two-party death-grip.

I remember when I remember, I remember when I lost my mind leedrutman.substack.com/p/are-we-los...

The House should immediately vote to change its rules — not to eliminate the motion to vacate, but to defang it, and even turn it into something constructive. www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Opinion | One Real Step Toward Transforming Congresswww.politico.com There’s a way to modify the motion to vacate so it avoids causing more chaos.

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And...we're live! Welcome to Good Politics/Bad Politics, my new plain newsletter with....the brilliant @juliaazari.bsky.social and the great @dbernstein.bsky.social. I know, right? What a lineup! Here's the first post introducing us: goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/howdy

Howdygoodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com Welcome to Good Politics/Bad Politics, a newsletter about government and elections in the US. So here’s the story. You might know me from my time at Bloomberg Opinion, or before that at A Plain Blog A...

Always great fun to join C-SPAN Washington Journal This morning we talked RFK and third parties. www.c-span.org/video/?53465...

I made a handy table of relatively successful third party presidential candidacies for my latest substack, which is all about the Kennedy 24 chaos factor. leedrutman.substack.com/p/why-rfk-jr...

New substack: Why RFK Jr. will be a chaos factor this election year He’s an anti-system candidate in an anti-system moment. Plus: What does his campaign tell us about the future of American politics? And will he take more votes from Biden or Trump? leedrutman.substack.com/p/why-rfk-jr...

Why RFK Jr. will be a chaos factor this election yearleedrutman.substack.com He’s an anti-system candidate in an anti-system moment. Plus: What does his campaign tell us about the future of American politics? And will he take more votes from Biden or Trump?

Trying to figure out whether Kennedy draws more from Trump or Biden led me to plot four months of polls like this. What might explain this pattern?

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"The goal of these reforms—#FusionVoting 🗳️✨ in the short and medium term and #ProportionalRepresentation in the long term—is to move us toward a more representative, effective, and resilient #democracy for the twenty-first century." -- @leedrutman.bsky.social www.newamerica.org/political-re...

More Parties, Better Parties: The Case for Pro-Parties Democracy Reformwww.newamerica.org To redirect and realign the downward trajectory of American politics, we must focus on creating better political parties. To do that, we need more than two of them.

"The rigidity of the two-party system is on full display in its two old, unpopular standard-bearers this year. But the flip side of rigidity is brittleness. Perhaps the uncertainty of 2024 presages a new realignment around a new era of political reform." my latest: www.cnn.com/2024/03/28/o...

Opinion: RFK Jr. is poised to be a chaos factor in November | CNNwww.cnn.com In a normal presidential election, an anti-system third-party hopeful like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would struggle more, writes Lee Drutman. But it’s not a normal year.

“One of the most transformative tools in our arsenal is fusion voting,” she said. “This system allows candidates to be cross-nominated by multiple parties, ensuring that they truly represent a broad spectrum of voters." www.ksn.com/news/your-lo...

New Kansas political party promises new era of politicswww.ksn.com United Kansas says it is time for a new era of collaborative politics.

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Here’s the bottom line: We should never face a choice between upholding #democracy and preserving our core values. #FusionVoting 🗳️ is the best method out of democracy hypocrisy. #ElectionReformNOW #ElectoralReformNOW Learn more @leedrutman.bsky.social : leedrutman.substack.com/p/why-you-mi...

Why You Might Be a Democracy Hypocrite (And Why I Might Be Too)leedrutman.substack.com Blame it on the high-stakes partisan polarization that is putting our democracy on spongy ground.

Note to Haley supporters: "if they embrace the “fusion” strategy suggested by Senators Mitt Romney and Joe Manchin, they could move us past the dangerous two-party politics that has pushed our democracy to the brink." time.com/6881656/nikk...

In Defeat, Haley Voters Have Power to Build Ontime.com Nikki Haley's primary voters can be a powerful bloc if they continue to support an anti-authoritarian agenda.

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#FusionVoting 🗳️ allows candidates to be "cross-nominated" by multiple parties. This allows smaller parties to have an impact on the election and forces lawmakers to pay attention to their platforms. Learn more from John Stoehr and @leedrutman.bsky.social : www.editorialboard.com/this-is-why-...

This is why third parties can’t win in presidential politicswww.editorialboard.com And this is why we should change that.

Would you buy milk with NO LABELS? (I wouldn't. Labels are important. They tell us what we are getting and vouch for the quality inside)

"The tragedy is not that Republicans and Democrats are unable to agree on these issues ... The tragedy is that the two parties don’t — or won’t — seek common ground, even though the deals are hiding in plain sight." www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/23/o...

The two-party doom loop - The Boston Globewww.bostonglobe.com The US electoral system continues to amplify and reinforce divisions, feeding a tit-for-tat escalation of distrust, bad faith, and demonization.

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We can’t keep doing this. We need more choices. We need more political parties in order to give voters the power of expressing their collective values through distinct ballot lines via #FusionVoting 🗳️ @leedrutman.bsky.social #ElectionReform #ElectoralReform leedrutman.substack.com/p/what-if-it...

What if It’s Not the Economy (Stupid)?leedrutman.substack.com Why 2024 is shaping up to be a very strange presidential election.

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Platforms, Polarization and Democracy - Cosma Shalizi and I have a new paper, which Nate Matias objects to strenuously. Here's our response crookedtimber.org/2024/02/21/5...

Polarization and democracycrookedtimber.org So Cosma Shalizi and I have an article (messy pre-print) coming out Real Soon in Communications of the ACM on democracy, polarization and social media. And Nate Matias, who I’m friends with, has fo…

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With the SC GOP primary Saturday, I wanted to post a working paper with Gall Sigler: "Not Of Primary Concern: Stability, Ideology, and Vote Choice in U.S. Primaries, 2008-2024" It's preliminary, so feedback or pointers to work we missed esp. welcome. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

I agree with @ezraklein.bsky.social. Biden is an extremely weak candidate right now. Yes, a convention fight could be divisive. But factions in the party want to have at least a say. They will rally around the winner. They understand the stakes. Go ahead, ratio me. www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/o...

Opinion | Democrats Have a Better Option Than Bidenwww.nytimes.com It requires them to embrace an old-fashioned approach to winning a campaign.

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#FusionVoting 🗳️ is a proven way for third parties to elevate priorities, elect winners, and influence policy without spoiling or siphoning off votes from the major parties. Learn more @leedrutman.bsky.social and Beau Tremitiere @protectdemocracy.org : plus.thebulwark.com/p/third-part...

The Presidential Race Could Use a Third Party—But Not a Third Candidateplus.thebulwark.com The No Labels gambit could create a spoiler in 2024. A better solution for giving moderates a voice: fusion voting.

When I see this, I think: why should control of Congress come to this? Only in our bizarre system of single-member districts that we take for granted. My latest substack offers a deep dive on this weirdness, hiding in plain sight: leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-2024-h...

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Should Congress take its cues from Portland, Oregon, and adopt proportional representation? National reform advocate and thought leader Lee Drutman thinks so. Read Drutman's interview with Rose City Reform here. @leedrutman.bsky.social rosecityreform.substack.com/p/lee-drutma...

Lee Drutman: "Congress should follow Portland's example."rosecityreform.substack.com Rose City Reform chats with the founder of Fix Our House, a campaign to bring proportional representation to Capitol Hill.

New Undercurrent Event. Come for the trenchant analysis. Stay for the new game of Buckets, which I invented to explain districting. Also, NEW this week: I'm including an audio version of the post now, for FREE (the newsletter is also free) leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-2024-h...