With Colin Cole I discuss the work of More Equitable Democracy, a racial justice organization to advance racial equity by transforming electoral systems. As the US electoral systems are almost exclusively built as winner-take-all elections that serve only the two parties in power, they don’t deliver fair representation. But how can more minorities’ representatives be elected into state parliaments, city councils and finally the US Congress?

Colin shares with us some of the key historical events related to electoral reforms during the Progressive Era and what we can learn from those for current and future reform efforts. A main strategy of More Equitable Democracy is to advocate for electoral reforms at the local level, where change is viable. Start small, start local, and make people experience the difference an electoral system can produce in better representing society.

Colin Cole is the Director of Policy, Outreach, and Communications of More Equitable Democracy that launched in January 2018 and serves as a nonprofit intermediary that works with communities of color to improve democratic institutions. Colin’s responsibilities include co-developing and advising on the creation of reform proposals, helping build coalitions led by traditionally underrepresented communities, and developing and maintaining relationships with strategic partners. Colin is also a co-founder of FairVote Washington, a Washington State organization dedicated to advancing proportional representation, and previously worked in political fundraising for Senator Maria Cantwell, in grassroots lobbying on progressive tax reform for All In for Washington, and the Bernie 2016 Presidential Campaign.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Find a full transcript and links to all material discussed in the show notes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠

Schedule: 00:00 Introduction / 03:53 Personal questions / 14:58 Main discussion / 57:55 Recommendations by Colin Cole.

Find the website of More Equitable Democracy ⁠here⁠.

Please send feedback to⁠⁠ ⁠rulesofthegame.ddi@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠. If you find my discussions interesting and you’d like to support my work, consider buying me a coffee at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/rulesofthegame⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Please enjoy this conversation with Colin Cole.

With Friedrich Pukelsheim I discuss double proportional representation. Since 2006 the Canton of Zurich in Switzerland uses double proportionality to elect its 180 members of parliament. Friedrich Pukelsheim was invited to design an electoral system that would deliver on the promise of overall proportional representation in the canton while keeping the existing electoral districts since they are meaningful social and geographic entities. The complication is that some of these districts are very small (4 seats) while others are large (up to 18 seats). So the problem to be solved was to achieve proportional representation and electoral equality while honoring those very diverse districts.

The resulting electoral system was double proportionality, nicknamed “Doppelter Pukelsheim” (“Double Pukelsheim”). Friedrich Pukelsheim has become well-known across Switzerland thanks to his successful design of an electoral system that fits the Zurich's requirements. He emphasizes, however, that the system was first discovered by Michel Balinski. As of now, 8 cantons in Switzerland have adopted a double proportional representation system.

Friedrich Pukelsheim is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Augsburg in Germany. He got his doctoral degree in 1977 from the University Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, and a Habilitation in 1982 from the same University. Still in the same year he became professor of mathematics and he has over time developed a special interest in the mathematical intricacies of electoral systems. Throughout his career he had research stays at the universities of Stanford, Cornell, Penn State, the London School of Economics and Political Science, among many others. Two books that treat the design of proportional electoral systems are Proportional Representation – Apportionment Methods and Their Applications, first published in 2014, and one in German: Sitzzuteilungsmethoden – Ein Kompaktkurs über Stimmenverrechnungsverfahren in Verhältniswahlsystemen, published in 2016. You can find all of his contributions on his website. You find links to all references in the show notes.

As a remark, this conversation was recorded in July 2024.

⁠⁠⁠⁠Find a full transcript and links to all material discussed in the show notes⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠

Schedule: 00:00 Introduction / 04:03 Personal questions / 6:08 Main discussion / 52:50 Recommendations by Friedrich Pukelsheim.

Find Friedrich Pukelsheim’s research here.

Please send feedback to⁠⁠ ⁠rulesofthegame.ddi@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠. If you find my discussions interesting and you’d like to support my work, consider buying me a coffee at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/rulesofthegame⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Many thanks to Ana Margarida Santos who co-produced this episode.

Please enjoy this conversation with Friedrich Pukelsheim.

With Degan Ali I discuss the system of international aid based on her inside experience of working in the sector for over two decades. She speaks truth to power and that really takes some bravery to do, and I honor that. Degan Ali shares many compelling stories from her home country Somalia, but also from several years of growing up and studying in the US. She explains how local agricultural markets were destroyed by foreign interference and how the Somali government is at the whim of foreign donor countries, instead of being accountable to its own people.

Listening to her perspective is really important and powerful, even though I don’t agree with all her viewpoints. With her voice and her work she tries to find ways to liberate Somalia from the traditional aid paradigm. As it is pointless to wait for the international aid system to change or even to leave Somalia, what seems the most promising way forward is to empower local civil society organizations and to raise their political profile to increase their leverage on the political stage.

Degan Ali has been at the forefront of shifting power for decades. She is the Executive Director of Adeso, an organization that made cash transfers a significant, legitimate method of delivering aid to vulnerable populations, beginning with the first large-scale cash transfer program during the 2011 Somalia famine. She is also a Rockefeller Foundation Global Fellow for Social Innovation, a contributor to the Overseas Development Institute, the Humanitarian Policy Group and the Global Food Security Journal. Her work has been featured on The New York Times, Al Jazeera and The Guardian.

As a remark, this conversation was recorded in June 2023.

⁠⁠⁠Find a full transcript and links to all material discussed in the show notes⁠⁠⁠.⁠

Schedule: 00:00 Introduction / 04:57 Personal questions / 13:41 Main discussion / 42:46 Recommendations by Degan Ali.

Follow Degan Ali on X.

Please send feedback to⁠⁠ ⁠rulesofthegame.ddi@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠. If you find my discussions interesting and you’d like to support my work, consider buying me a coffee at ⁠⁠⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/rulesofthegame⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Many thanks to Ana Margarida Santos who co-produced this episode.

Please enjoy this conversation with Degan Ali.