The case for federal PR

Drutman and Hill are quite convincing that proportional representation would produce fairer, more democratic results while diminishing the immense influence of mostly uninformed and incoherent swing voters:

These swing voters have gained a reputation for being the one remaining moderating force in our politics. But more often they are a mercurial mix of unorthodoxy and political uninterest — and they hold disproportionate power to decide the fate of the country, based on the price of gasoline or a reflexive turn against the party in the White House.

What we’re left with in our polarized system is that the only real swing voters are those who either don’t really follow politics (most swing voters) or whose deeply considered political values leave them ambivalent about the two major parties (a few highly educated voters with an outsize media presence).

As Democrats and Republicans continue to diverge, especially over fundamental questions like “Was the 2020 election legitimate?” and “Is America a democracy?” the stakes of winning over these mostly disengaged voters are higher than ever.

[…]

There is a long-term alternative to this way of conducting politics. The problem we’ve described is a direct consequence of our single-winner congressional districts. If we adopted proportional, multimember districts, all votes would matter equally across the country, and even more important, because more parties would be viable under such a system, voters disengaged by our two-party system would be far more likely to find a party that represents them and have a reason to be informed.

Both frustrated partisans and disgruntled swing voters would be better off if they could vote for and in a different political system — one that increases competition while also engaging more Americans in elections. But that is not yet on the ballot.

For now, we will allow a small slice of the country that doesn’t know much about politics to help decide control of Congress.

To me, ending federal gerrymandering is a more important virtue of PR than creating multiple viable parties, but either way it would be better than single-member districts.