MMP: Another system of elections

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Saturday May 30, 2015 · 12:08 PM PDT

2015/05/30 · 12:08

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.

CABlueDog

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Wednesday June 10, 2009 · 10:02 PM PDT

2009/06/10 · 22:02

You are definitely positively in the race, you have calculated your win number, and you have sifted the numbers and identified your target audience. The next step is determining how you convey your message to the voters. In other words, it's time to write your campaign plan.

In my first entry in this series, Campaign Manuals, I suggested some commonly available books that discuss aspects of the campaign trail. If you are unfamiliar with some of the terms I use, you might want to get one of those books as a reference guide. They will also suggest how to draft a campaign plan, but you are interested in this version as well, right?

CABlueDog

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Saturday May 16, 2009 · 12:23 PM PDT

2009/05/16 · 12:23

There is one element to the modern campaign that is so new most campaign veterans are still trying to adjust, and that is the explosion in early voting. In my first entry in this series, Campaign Manuals, I suggested some commonly available books about election campaigns. One drawback of these books is their failure to discuss the importance of the absentee voter.

You not only need to know who votes, the subject of the last entry, you need to know when people vote. Absentee voting is a growing trend across the nation, and many states are easing the restrictions on absentee voting. (For simplicity, "absentee voting" and "early voting" both refer to any voting that occurs before Election Day.) Assuming that you can wait until the final month to start campaigning is foolish.

CABlueDog

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Friday April 10, 2009 · 12:27 PM PDT

2009/04/10 · 12:27

I have read several of these "accept ..." diaries over the last 24 hours and some of the comments. Usually I stop after 50 or so because y'all drift off into inane flame wars and bore the crap out of me. I have lost track of who's doing their Rodney King impression and who's singing "Kossacks Uber Alles" and I really don't care. It's all feldercarb to me.

For myself, I am first and foremost a partisan big-D Democrat. I grew up as a Democrat and find that overall I am more comfortable with Democratic Party values than those of the GOP. Theoretically, I suppose there may exist a Republican somewhere who is better on the issues than his Democratic opponent, but I haven't seen it happen in a partisan election in my voting lifetime. In 20+ years, I have voted the Democratic ticket in every partisan race in my district.

CABlueDog

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Wednesday April 08, 2009 · 1:17 PM PDT

2009/04/08 · 13:17

If you followed the Dog's advice from last week's diary, you have some notion of what turnout is like in your race, and you have calculated your win number. The next question that needs to be answered is "which voters do I contact to find my supporters?" Like all good Kossacks, you know that not everyone is registered to vote, and not all registered voters show up at the polls. You need to determine who are the likely voters on election day. Defining your target audience is an arcane skill, blending art, science, and more than a touch of the dark arts. Choosing the right voters can make or break your entire campaign.

CABlueDog

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Tuesday March 31, 2009 · 9:34 PM PDT

2009/03/31 · 21:34

My thanks to Something the Dog Said, aka The Top Dog, for letting me jump into this series. As he indicated, I will be adding my persective as a campaign staffer/manager. While I have run for local office a couple of times myself, my background is as a campaign volunteer & staffer for 20+ years in California. I have worked on races ranging from school board to Congress, and practically everything in between. My most recent stint was as field director for a successful state Assembly candidate. Hopefully, this background will help me in writing these entries. Now, on with the show!

So you have decided to take the next step in political activism and now you are running for office yourself or helping your fellow progressive do so. Having taken this leap, you are panicking because you have no idea what to do. The training academies by DFA and Wellstone aren't near you this year, and you don't want to wait for the Dog's series to finish. Fear not. There are several good campaign manuals available for sale on the Internet or at your local bookstore. (There are also some that are complete guano, but we're skipping those.) I will suggest a few in my personal collection.

Poll

16 votes Show Results

The best way to learn about campaigning is...

16 votes Vote Now!

The best way to learn about campaigning is...

Run for office yourself, learning as you go

0 votes

Working on other people's campaigns, watching to see what happens

10 votes

Talking to people who worked on campaigns in the area

1 vote

Attending training camps run by DFA, Wellstone, labor, etc.

1 vote

Reading Campaigning 101 on DailyKos

1 vote

Reading books by successful candidates & managers

0 votes

French Silk

0 votes

Dutch Apple

1 vote

3.14159265358979323846Ã¢â,¬Â¦

2 votes

Continuity of Government -- use the Pro Tem

CABlueDog

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Sunday March 08, 2009 · 10:24 PM PDT

2009/03/08 · 22:24

It's not exactly the sexiest topic, but Continuity of Government is one of those issues that our government has yet to deal with in a credible fashion. "Continuity of Government" is the term given to planning for an attack that strikes a catastrophic blow to the Presidential line of succession and/or Congress and the Supreme Court. Perhaps the most famous fictional example in recent years is Tom Clancy's Executive Orders, in which an attack on the Capitol leaves Jack Ryan in charge without a Cabinet or Congress.

September 11 brought this issue back to the forefront, and exposed the weaknesses in our current system, but little has been done to fix it. Most solutions require changes in the law or the Constitution, but there is one that the Senate could adopt today. Change the criteria for electing the President Pro Tempore.

RSS

MMP: Another system of elections

Campaign 101: The Plan

Campaign 101: The Absentee Voter

Reject Acceptance

Campaign 101: Choosing Your Voter

Campaigning 101: Campaign Manuals

Continuity of Government -- use the Pro Tem