Republicans start every election cycle with structural advantages regardless of the issues and all the other factors that usually determine who wins elections.
(Art: Victor Juhasz)
In the 25th anniversary issue of this magazine, Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson offered an explanation of what they call the “no-cost extremism” of current Republican politics. How does the GOP continue to move rightward and still win, they ask, despite the American public’s opposition to much of the party’s agenda? “Poll after poll,” they point out, “shows that major GOP positions are not all that popular. Among swing voters, there has been nothing like the party’s right turn. … On many social issues, such as gay marriage, middle-of-the-road voters have actually moved left. Yet the Republican Party keeps heading right. … In a 50-50 nation, Republicans have learned how to have their extremist cake and eat it too.”
At first blush, this disconnect indeed poses a small-d democratic conundrum. Hacker and Pierson proceed to investigate a variety of possible explanations for the gap between what Americans want and what elections and government give them. No doubt, as they argue, the Republicans’ electoral success is to some degree attributable to a larger and more intensely committed activist core, stronger media, more money, and the ability to prevent government from acting effectively and then to benefit from the cynicism that grows when it fails to perform.
In their otherwise compelling essay, however, Hacker and Pierson only briefly allude to two mutually reinforcing sets of structural advantages that result in Republican over-representation. One set of advantages arises from the electoral system, the other from the socioeconomic differences between the two parties’ supporters. Taken together, these built-in advantages in the Republicans’ favor systematically tilt the electoral playing field. They make every Democratic victory an uphill climb.
The GOP’s Electoral-System Edge
A series of characteristics of the American electoral system, including the structure and procedures of the Senate and House as well as the electoral calendar, are now working for the Republicans.
The U.S. Senate was designed to over-represent small states, but only recently has that bias been a Republican advantage. During the mid-20th century, the GOP regularly elected senators from large states such as California, Illinois, and New York. But during the past half-century, as a result of the GOP’s dominance of small states and loss of big states, the party has consistently held a higher share of Senate seats than the share of American citizens who vote for its candidates...."
http://prospect.org/article/republican-structural-advantage
(Art: Victor Juhasz)
In the 25th anniversary issue of this magazine, Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson offered an explanation of what they call the “no-cost extremism” of current Republican politics. How does the GOP continue to move rightward and still win, they ask, despite the American public’s opposition to much of the party’s agenda? “Poll after poll,” they point out, “shows that major GOP positions are not all that popular. Among swing voters, there has been nothing like the party’s right turn. … On many social issues, such as gay marriage, middle-of-the-road voters have actually moved left. Yet the Republican Party keeps heading right. … In a 50-50 nation, Republicans have learned how to have their extremist cake and eat it too.”
At first blush, this disconnect indeed poses a small-d democratic conundrum. Hacker and Pierson proceed to investigate a variety of possible explanations for the gap between what Americans want and what elections and government give them. No doubt, as they argue, the Republicans’ electoral success is to some degree attributable to a larger and more intensely committed activist core, stronger media, more money, and the ability to prevent government from acting effectively and then to benefit from the cynicism that grows when it fails to perform.
In their otherwise compelling essay, however, Hacker and Pierson only briefly allude to two mutually reinforcing sets of structural advantages that result in Republican over-representation. One set of advantages arises from the electoral system, the other from the socioeconomic differences between the two parties’ supporters. Taken together, these built-in advantages in the Republicans’ favor systematically tilt the electoral playing field. They make every Democratic victory an uphill climb.
The GOP’s Electoral-System Edge
A series of characteristics of the American electoral system, including the structure and procedures of the Senate and House as well as the electoral calendar, are now working for the Republicans.
The U.S. Senate was designed to over-represent small states, but only recently has that bias been a Republican advantage. During the mid-20th century, the GOP regularly elected senators from large states such as California, Illinois, and New York. But during the past half-century, as a result of the GOP’s dominance of small states and loss of big states, the party has consistently held a higher share of Senate seats than the share of American citizens who vote for its candidates...."
http://prospect.org/article/republican-structural-advantage
