Editorial: For A More Representative Democracy

The United States is often presented as an example of democracy. This is true in many ways, but when it comes to allow voters to elect the president, the system gets more complicated to benefit the structures of the Republican and Democratic parties.

The surge of insurgent candidates like the Republican Donald Trump and the Democrat Bernie Sanders confused the party élites who had aligned their interest groups behind such candidates as Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush. Trump and Sanders’ success is based precisely on the frustration of the bases, who feel a disconnect with the party leadership.

Trump is right when he complains that the GOP is unfair with him as it’s somewhat taking advantage of the millionaire’s inexperience in politics. The fact that his rival, Ted Cruz, won the Colorado delegates without any election taking place is indefensible. Voters now become secondary as campaigns are fishing for a majority of delegates. Also at issue are the Republican National Convention rules, which, for example, established in 2012 that the winning candidate must have won at least eight states. This rule was supposed to help Mitt Romney beat Ron Paul, but now it could disappear because it helps Trump.

The Democrats also have their own committee of rules to make late adjustments, but the party elite has also control over the superdelegates. Unlike in the GOP, they are partisan figures – elect officials, activists and celebrities free to choose their favorite candidate. Today, the overwhelming majority stands with Clinton, which helps her keep Sanders at bay.

At the national level the picture stays the same. The U.S. is the only country in the world in which an Electoral College chooses the president. This indirect voting system allowed for the 2000 George W. Bush victory thanks to 900 votes in Florida, while Al Gore got more than half a million more votes throughout the country. A Supreme Court with a Republican majority declared Bush the winner.

Since the beginning, voter decisions have been under suspicion. Voters, for their part, are disappointed because their will is being ignored, and the current election reflects those frustrations. Our democracy needs to be upgraded so it is more representative. The way to do so is by empowering voters.