Making Democracy Count: How Mathematics Improves Voting, Electoral Maps, and Representation
Apr 2024 · Princeton University Press
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About this ebook
How we can repair our democracy by rebuilding the mechanisms that power it
What’s the best way to determine what most voters want when multiple candidates are running? What’s the fairest way to allocate legislative seats to different constituencies? What’s the least distorted way to draw voting districts? Not the way we do things now. Democracy is mathematical to its very foundations. Yet most of the methods in use are a historical grab bag of the shortsighted, the cynical, the innumerate, and the outright discriminatory. Making Democracy Count sheds new light on our electoral systems, revealing how a deeper understanding of their mathematics is the key to creating civic infrastructure that works for everyone.
In this timely guide, Ismar Volić empowers us to use mathematical thinking as an objective, nonpartisan framework that rises above the noise and rancor of today’s divided public square. Examining our representative democracy using powerful clarifying concepts, Volić shows why our current voting system stifles political diversity, why the size of the House of Representatives contributes to its paralysis, why gerrymandering is a sinister instrument that entrenches partisanship and disenfranchisement, why the Electoral College must be rethought, and what can work better and why. Volić also discusses the legal and constitutional practicalities involved and proposes a road map for repairing the mathematical structures that undergird representative government.
Making Democracy Count gives us the concrete knowledge and the confidence to advocate for a more just, equitable, and inclusive democracy.
What’s the best way to determine what most voters want when multiple candidates are running? What’s the fairest way to allocate legislative seats to different constituencies? What’s the least distorted way to draw voting districts? Not the way we do things now. Democracy is mathematical to its very foundations. Yet most of the methods in use are a historical grab bag of the shortsighted, the cynical, the innumerate, and the outright discriminatory. Making Democracy Count sheds new light on our electoral systems, revealing how a deeper understanding of their mathematics is the key to creating civic infrastructure that works for everyone.
In this timely guide, Ismar Volić empowers us to use mathematical thinking as an objective, nonpartisan framework that rises above the noise and rancor of today’s divided public square. Examining our representative democracy using powerful clarifying concepts, Volić shows why our current voting system stifles political diversity, why the size of the House of Representatives contributes to its paralysis, why gerrymandering is a sinister instrument that entrenches partisanship and disenfranchisement, why the Electoral College must be rethought, and what can work better and why. Volić also discusses the legal and constitutional practicalities involved and proposes a road map for repairing the mathematical structures that undergird representative government.
Making Democracy Count gives us the concrete knowledge and the confidence to advocate for a more just, equitable, and inclusive democracy.
How we can repair our democracy by rebuilding the mechanisms that power it
What’s the best way to determine what most voters want when multiple candidates are running? What’s the fairest way to allocate legislative seats to different constituencies? What’s the least distorted way to draw voting ...
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Ratings and reviews
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Literary Titan
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August 25, 2024
Making Democracy Count is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of mathematics and democracy. It’s particularly well-suited for readers with a background in mathematics or political science, as well as educators and policymakers who want to deepen their understanding of how to improve democratic processes. Volić succeeds in showing that mathematics is not just a tool for scientists but a powerful framework for creating a more just and equitable society.
About the author
Ismar Volić is professor of mathematics and director of the Institute for Mathematics and Democracy at Wellesley College. He is the author of many articles and books and has delivered more than three hundred lectures in more than twenty countries. His writing has appeared in The Hill, Time, and on Literary Hub, among other leading publications.
Ismar Volić is professor of mathematics and director of the Institute for Mathematics and Democracy at Wellesley College. He is the author of many articles and books and has delivered more than three hundred lectures in more than twenty countries. His writing has appeared in The Hill, Time, and o...
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