Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Sandi Hanson's avatar

"If the Democratic Party is serious about preserving America as a constitutional republic, they must put democracy at the top of their priority list." Do you think the democratic party gets this - will they MAKE it happen? How can we help - other than VOTE? Makes my blood boil.

Expand full comment
docrhw Weil's avatar

What may give a little bit of hope is that another (more or less) democracy had a similar situation and pulled itself out of it. In 1832 for the people of England and Wales representation in the House of Commons was grossly out of whack. Thanks to the historical apportionment of members, modern industrial cities (and hence the growing middle class) had little or no representation while rural areas were dominant. Some of these country places had declined to almost nothing, one in fact had been swamped by the ocean and several others were "owned" by local squires who had the few local farmers vote for them or their sons. The general term for all these places was "rotten boroughs".

Thanks to a new prime minister, the backing of his party, public pressure, and a threat by the king to pack the House of Lords with new members if the bill wasn't passed by them, sweeping changes were finally made. Voting qualifications were standardized, 67 new constituencies were added and 87 were eliminated or reduced in power. The law was by no means perfect, with women specifically disenfranchised and a property qualification to vote being required, but it was the first step in making fair representation in the U.K.

Perhaps we can learn from this example just what can happen when enough public pressure, money and political will is brought to bear on our almost as lousy situation. While amending the Constitution is likely to be a non-starter, many other things can be done. If enough people demand it then the conditions don't have to remain like as they are.

Expand full comment
6 more comments...

No posts