"A New Electoral System for Congress?" by Dick Katz - BES Hybrid Sunday Platform
Details
A New Electoral System for Congress?
Dick Katz
BES Past President, Professor
This platform will be delivered in hybrid format, which means you can attend the platform via Zoom or in person at the Impact Hub Baltimore. Masks are optional.
The single member district system by which we elect members of the House of Representatives (and most members of state legislatures, city and county councils) has been hallowed by time, but is not required by the Constitution. While it may have made sense originally, once the Supreme Court rules that “Legislators represent people, not trees or acres” and insisted that that districts have approximately the same population, we have seen an endless stream of gerrymanders, racial, partisan, and personal. It is time to recognize that equal district populations cannot produce equitable representation of groups and opinions.
Bio: Dick Katz is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Johns Hopkins, and a past-president of the Baltimore Ethical Society. His books include Democracy and Elections and Political Institutions in the United States (both published by Oxford University Press)
Physical Location:
Impact Hub Baltimore
10 E. North Ave
Baltimore, MD 21202