Here is a full list of my general-audience content. The page is divided into sections:
Policy essays
- "Avoiding the PR Mistakes of the Past." Democracy Journal, Sep. 12, 2023. — Distinguishes party-list from semi-proportional electoral systems and explains why this matters for American political reform.
- Santucci, Jack; Matthew Shugart; and Michael S. Latner. 2023. "Toward a Different Type of Party Government: Proportional Representation for Federal Elections" in More than Red and Blue: Political Parties and American Democracy. Washington, DC: American Political Science Association and Protect Democracy. — We ask what it might take to make proportional representation compatible with the 'separation of powers,' taking seriously the concerns of under-represented groups.
- Santucci, Jack. 2010. "What is the Future for Democracy Promotion?" Democracy & Society 7 (1): 5-7. — International democracy promotion depends on easy reform targets, which are in diminishing supply.
- Santucci, Jack and Magnus Öhman. 2009. "Practical solutions for the disclosure of campaign and political party finance." In Political Finance Regulation: The Global Experience, edited by Magnus Öhman and Hani Zainulbhai, 25-42. Washington, DC: International Foundation for Electoral Systems. — Campaign finance disclosure legislation must take account of local conditions, including potential for unintended consequences.
Op-eds & blog posts
- "Election Reform: Is History Repeating? A Q&A with Jack Santucci" (with Kevin R. Kosar). AEIdeas, Oct. 31, 2022. — "We should be prepared for those reforms to get repealed and take care to not combine them with features we might regret."
- "Alaska's special election illustrates an unpredictable system." 3streams, Sep. 1, 2022. — "Is it enough to say that the outcome was due to a deal in either direction?"
- "What is the one-vote system? A Q&A with Jack Santucci" (with Kevin R. Kosar). AEIdeas, Oct. 25, 2021. — "One-vote flips that around — give voters representation, then have their representatives form the coalition. It's a lot more realistic."
- "There is a better way to run city elections — and it's native to Philadelphia." The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 6, 2021. — "...easier on voters and election officials and has a much better track record."
- "New Yorkers used ranked-choice voting last month. Did it eliminate spoilers, as promised?" (with Lindsey Cormack). The Monkey Cage/Washington Post, Jul. 27, 2021. — "The way reformers try to 'solve' the second [spoiler] effect might actually make the first one more likely."
- "Ranked choice voting in New York City will not upset the two-party system, but it is raising questions about political parties." LSE's USA Politics & Policy, Jul. 22, 2021. — "Less clear is whether the reform itself has transformed city politics."
- "The fight over ranked-choice voting in New York City." 3streams, Jun. 18, 2021. — "...one really interesting thing will be the meaning that gets made of New York City ranked-choice voting."
- "Nonpartisan elections don’t reduce polarization." 3streams, Feb. 11, 2021. — "Let’s stop pretending that our problems — whatever they are — will go away by fighting a tenacious summary statistic. And let’s stop wasting energy trying to get parties out of politics."
- "Principles of democratic reform on the ballot in 2020." 3streams, Nov. 3, 2020. — "My focus in this post is on competing principles — with respect to minority representation and the role of parties in electoral politics — and how they are playing out in four major ballot measures."
- "There are (at least) two 'lefts' and two 'rights.'" 3streams, Aug. 20, 2020.
- "Utah's new kind of ranked-choice voting could hurt political minorities — and sometimes even the majority" (with Benjamin Reilly). LSE's USA Politics & Policy, Jan. 23, 2020. — "But if voting is polarized — in partisan, ideological, or racial terms — block preferential voting could lock out the opposition."
- "Ranked-choice voting and the future of small-d democracy in New York." New York Daily News, Nov. 14, 2019. — "As long as people keep pushing the single-winner form, Republicans and voting-rights groups are likely to keep fighting it."
- "Factional voting in local elections: The case of Cambridge, MA." Urban Affairs Forum, Feb. 7, 2019. — "Ballot-level data back to 1997 [show] that this Democratic city now has some organized factions."
- "Why adopting proportional voting may bring back the big-tent political party." LSE's USA Politics & Policy, Nov. 5, 2018. — "Parties still will want to win their majorities. The difference is that, with multi-winner ranked-choice, they’ll have to cater to protest voters."
- "Maine's election shows that ranked-choice voting is hot right now. But we have been here before." LSE's USA Politics & Policy, Jun. 15, 2018. — "RCV fits perfectly where a majority of people cannot agree on just one candidate, but they all dislike the opposition."
- "How ranked-choice voting could empower independents and make American elections more inclusive" (with Larry Diamond). Scholars Strategy Network, Feb. 9, 2018.
- "Maine's citizens passed 'ranked-choice voting.' Why did Republicans shoot it down?" The Monkey Cage/Washington Post, May 31, 2017. — "To understand why, we need to examine how swing voters will use second-place rankings."
- "Past experience shows that proportional representation is possible in the US. But there are tradeoffs." LSE's USA Politics & Policy, Dec. 21, 2016. — "You need a diverse coalition of groups. Part of this must come from the current majority. The rest has to come from losing parties."
- "Will ranked-choice voting succeed in Maine? That depends on the Democrats." The Monkey Cage/Washington Post, Oct. 13, 2016. — "Changes to voting laws often are driven by interests of political parties."
- "How to map political data free-of-charge." ElectionGuide Digest, Feb. 15, 2013. — "Contrary to conventional wisdom, one does not need special skills or expensive software to make maps like these."
- «Le scrutin proportionnel aux États-Unis est-il envisageable?» Blogue génératrice/Radio-Canada, May 17, 2012. — "Recent years in Congress have shown that 'governability problems' also are possible under first-past-the-post."
Audio & video
- "Electoral Reforms, Governing Coalitions, and the Importance of Political Parties," Go Green 2026 (Andy Ellis), Apr. 23, 2024.
- "History of STV in the USA," The Tally Room (Ben Raue), Jul. 28, 2023.
- "Mayoral Candidate Amen Brown, Ranked Choice Voting, Studio 2 Trivia," Studio 2, WHYY, Apr. 27, 2023.
- "A Deep Dive On Parties And Political Reform," Democracy Works (Jenna Spinelle), Aug. 2, 2023 (recorded Aug. 2022).
- "How does electoral reform happen?" Politics in Question (Lee Drutman), Sep. 13, 2021.
- "Proportional representation in the USA," Rules of the Game (Stephan Kyburz), Dec. 6, 2021.
- "Ranked-choice voting might not 'work,'" APSA 2021 short course on "Pluralism and the Politics of Reform: Achieving Multi-racial, Multi-party Democracy," Sep. 27, 2021.
- "Ranked Choice Voting," Top of Mind, BYU Radio, Sep. 14, 2021.
- "Breaking Polarization: The Promise and Perils of Election Reform" (webinar), Panic at the Polls (with Lee Drutman, organized by Drexel University libraries), Oct. 27, 2020.
- "After primary election problems during COVID-19, are we ready for November?" (podcast), KYW In Depth (hosted by Char Reese), Jun. 12, 2020.
- "Episode 61: Can America Become a Multiparty System?" (podcast), The Science of Politics (with Lee Drutman, hosted by Matt Grossman), Jan. 29, 2020.
- "Episode 14: Spoiled" (podcast), Tatter (Prof. Michael Sargent, Bates College), Jun. 7, 2018.
- "History of Ranked Choice Voting" (webinar), RCV Resource Center, Sep. 8, 2017.
Quoted or cited
- Polhy, Kaitlyn. "CT begins exploring ranked-choice voting merits, logistics." CT Mirror, Jun. 26, 2024.
- Fernandez, Esteban. "Devil is in the details for election reform." Times West Virginian, Mar. 9, 2024.
- Squires, Camille. "With 17 Candidates and Unusual Voting Rules, Memphis Mayoral Race Gets Jumbled." Bolts, Sep. 29, 2023.
- Prihar, Asha. "What exactly is ranked-choice voting, and how would it change the Philly mayor’s race?" Billy Penn, Apr. 24, 2023.
- Prokop, Andrew. "The plan to save America by killing the partisan primary." Vox, Nov. 4, 2022.
- Harris, Maja Viklands. "Jack Santucci: 'A yes vote in Portland would be a game-on moment for the proportional representation movement.'" Rose City Reform, Nov. 3, 2022.
- Woodard, Colin. "After trying to overturn his election loss in 2018, Poliquin won't say if he'll respect the results this year." The Portland Press Herald, Oct. 9, 2022.
- Effinger, Anthony. "We Tried to Imagine How Voting Would Work Under Portland's Proposed Charter Reforms." Willamette Week, Oct. 5, 2022.
- Herz, Nathaniel. "After Peltola win in Alaska, a debate erupts over ranked-choice voting." The Washington Post, Sep. 1, 2022.
- Montlake, Simon. "Voters Say They Want a New Political Party. Will Forward Be It?" The Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 30, 2022.
- Schleifer, Theodore. "The $100 Million Plan to Completely Fix Washington." Puck News, Oct. 20, 2021.
- "Democrats in New York choose a mayoral candidate in a tight race." The Economist, Jun. 21, 2021.
- Lopez, Meghan. "Colorado and the city of Denver take a closer look at approval voting for the future of elections." Denver7 ABC, Jan. 29, 2021.
- Stout, Matt. "Who are the out-of-state billionaires backing ranked-choice voting in Massachusetts?" The Boston Globe, Oct. 26, 2020.
- Press, Jessica Blatt. "Ideas We Should Steal: Citizens' Assemblies." The Philadelphia Citizen, Oct. 19, 2020.
- Herz, Nathaniel. "An initiative proposes to overhaul Alaska’s elections. But not everyone thinks they’re broken." Alaska Public Media, Sep. 28, 2020.
- Byrne, Katie. "Could fracking be a deciding issue for 2020 voters in key states?" Fox News, Feb. 28, 2020.
- Camera, Lauren. "Is It the End of the Road for Iowa and New Hampshire?" US News & World Report, Feb. 12, 2020.
- Fortin, Jacey. "Why Ranked-Choice Voting is Having a Moment" The New York Times, Feb. 10, 2020.
- Greenblatt, Alan. "Voting Problems Open the Door to Election Alternatives" Governing, Feb. 5, 2020.
- Brachfeld, Ben. "History shows how ranked-choice voting could weaken party machines." City & State NY, Sep. 25, 2019.
- Armstrong, Katherine J. Ranked Choice Voting in Maine. Technical report, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, September 2019.
- Gaddam, Prachi. "Campus contemplates if they feel the Bern." The Triangle, Mar. 1, 2019.
- Santos, Melissa. "Is it time for WA to give ranked-choice voting a shot?" Crosscut, Feb. 20, 2019.
- Woodard, Colin. "Maine’s pioneering ranked-choice election likely to catch on nationally." The Portland Press Herald, Nov. 18, 2018.
- Woodard, Colin. "How ranked-choice voting effort became a partisan flashpoint." The Portland Press Herald, Apr. 8, 2018.
- Reichel, Chloe. "Get out the vote: Understanding ranked-choice elections." Journalist's Resource, Nov. 6, 2017.
- Williams, Anthony. "Stop One-Party Rule in Big Cities." CityLab, Oct. 15, 2017.
- Greenblatt, Alan. "What's 'Proportional Voting,' and Why Is It Making a Comeback?" Governing, Aug. 31, 2017.
- "How does ranked choice voting rank?" GrayDC, Oct. 25, 2016.
- Sherwood, Tom. "Voters Cast Ballots Across D.C. Area.; Close Contests Expected." NBC4 Washington, Nov. 3, 2014.
Early pieces with teaching value
- "How D.C. votes" (with Rob Richie). Washington Times, Nov. 10, 2008.
- "New districts in harmony with one person, one vote." Amarillo Globe-News, Jul. 9, 2006.
