A recent diary was written about the failings of single-member districts in legislative bodies, using the UK general election as the example. The author, if I am recalling the intent correctly, favored multi-member districts elected on a proportional basis. Several variant election schemes were mentioned, but I'd like to highlight Mixed-Member Proportional Representation, commonly referred to as MMP.
There are benefits to having somebody to point to as "your" representative that you can work with on individual or community issues. Whether it's getting your unemployment benefits straightened out, getting the pothole in your street fixed, or advocating for the local college, it's good to have a legislator who is focused on the needs of your area. For that aspect of representation, I support either single member districts or very small (3-5) multi-member districts.
For the larger policy issues, though, the best way to ensure diversity of representation is to have a large multi-member district. This allows even small minority opinions the chance to be represented via proportional representation, if the number of seats is sufficiently large.
MMP offers the best of both worlds, by combining single-member district seats with a large (regional or state-wide) proportional district seated by some form of party list. Follow me below for an example.
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