SXSW 2023

Imagineering American Democracy 2050

Description:

Forget the 2022 elections or even 2024. How can we rethink American democracy to create a 21st century version that works well for the populous, diverse, multiracial country that we have become? The United States today is a gigantic country (only China and India have more people) and a highly heterogenous one at that. Unfortunately, our existing systems of electing those who represent us increasingly don't seem to do a very good job of producing people who actually represent us or our interests. Are there alternatives such as proportional representation or multi-member districts or top 4 primaries (or others) that would do better? And how do we get there when faced with an uninterested and often hostile political class, not to mention openly antagonistic courts?


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Takeaways

  1. The problems currently faced by American democracy go well beyond the divided politics of our time & have roots in the design of the systems we use.
  2. The United States is hard to govern - by design. But we are reaching a breaking point as the country becomes more diverse - in multiple ways.
  3. Now is the time for fresh, bold thinking. We can't just tweak existing systems. People outside the usual political class have a huge role to play.

Speakers


Organizer

Michael Li, Senior Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law


Meta Information:

  • Event: SXSW
  • Format: Panel
  • Track: Civic Engagement
  • Track 2
  • Level: Beginner


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