I’m not a real political guy, and am certainly not a supporter of a single party (as evidenced by my 4 Democrat, 4 Republican, and 3 Libertarian votes this year), but on this Election Day Eve I do have a couple (not original) thoughts about the overall health of our democracy and how to improve it.
1) We learn as children, and often talk about as adults, that voting is our duty. If we really believe that, let’s make it mandatory. I’ve heard arguments against this, but really, none of them are particularly convincing to me.
2) Along with making voting required, let’s do our best to help lessen the impact of our two party system. One idea I support, which is simple and elegant, is Instant Runoff Voting. It won’t solve the problem entirely, but it’d certainly make it more appealing to vote for a third-party candidate without feeling as though my ballot was wasted.
