Robust Electoral Competition: Rethinking Electoral Systems to Encourage Representative Outcomes

Nathan Atkinson & Scott C. Ganz

American democracy is struggling. Political polarization has exacerbated division within the electorate, while gerrymandering and hyper-polarization mean only a handful of elections are truly competitive. Voters feel increasingly disenchanted with the major parties and starved for choice. Hungry for solutions, states have turned to a particular form of Ranked Choice Voting called Instant Runoff Voting, now adopted in two states and on the ballot in more this fall. Its promise of greater choice holds intuitive appeal to those interested in improving American democratic institutions, but the rush to reform by adopting Instant Runoff Voting may prove misguided.

Well-intentioned advocates have backed a voting system that treats symptoms, not the root causes of democratic dysfunction. We reframe the discussion in terms of robust electoral competition, evaluating voting systems on how their incentive structures shape the political positioning of candidates’ platforms and the extent to which those platforms are responsive to the will of the voters. On those metrics, we argue, the form of Ranked Choice Voting spreading across the country comes up short in many of the same ways that our current plurality system fails.

We provide a two-part corrective. On a theoretical level, we offer a framework that ties the representativeness of an electoral system to the degree to which it promotes political competition. We show how alternative voting systems can create stronger competitive pressures resulting in more representative election outcomes. On a practical level, we show how an alternative Ranked Choice system called Condorcet Voting could restore lost incentives within existing constraints. Unlike our current plurality system or Instant Runoff Voting, Condorcet Voting ensures that any candidate preferred by a majority over others will win, thereby creating strong competitive pressures resulting in more representative outcomes. We map a feasible path toward revived democratic responsiveness.