April 9, 2024
Lee Drutman, Cerin Lindgrensavage, and Robert Oldham co-authored a piece for POLITICO on reforming House rules regarding the motion to vacate to reflect the reality of a coalition government, proposing a constructive motion that requires an alternative speaker, to prevent chaos and paralysis in response to changing political dynamics.
As reformers that advocate for changes to our electoral system that would foster the election of members of Congress from multiple parties, we are exploring ways to adapt the rules to make a multiparty Congress work. And a constructive motion to vacate is one such rule.
Most democracies in the world elect their legislatures using proportional systems that support the engagement of multiple parties, as opposed to the two-party system in the U.S. and the one-party governing majorities it generally produces. The rules most other democracies use to organize their legislatures work under coalition governments.