One of the largest divides in our country

[cyberswede]

7. I remember reading something by Hendrik Hertzberg on "proportional representation" that makes sense.

I can't find the essay online, but here's the Wikipedia entry on PR.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_representation

Proportional representation (PR) is a principle applied to voting systems to elect an assembly or council to ensure that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system, if 30% of voters support a particular party then roughly 30% of seats will be won by that party.

PR is an alternative to voting systems based on single-member districts or on bloc voting. These non-PR systems tend to produce disproportionate outcomes for the winning party or parties (shares of seats larger than shares of votes) and are biased in favour of larger political parties. Under PR systems, smaller parties are allocated seats in proportion to their share of the vote and are thus more likely to secure a certain level of representation, although the details will vary from case to case depending on the details of any particular system.