October 16, 2024
A Pivot Point for U.S. Democracy: 2024 and Beyond
Sam Wang
Professor of Neuroscience, Princeton University; Electoral Innovation Lab
A Pivot Point for U.S. Democracy: 2024 and Beyond
Sam Wang
Professor of Neuroscience, Princeton University; Electoral Innovation Lab
Minutes of the Sixth Meeting of the 83rd Year
George Bustin, Old Guard president, called the meeting to order and presided. Frances Slade led the invocation, Peter Epstein read the minutes, in place of David Vilkomerson, of the October 9 meeting. Attendance at Springdale Golf Club was 130. There were 8 guests signed in: Dennis Walsingham (guest of Charles Clark), Toby Taylor (guest of Patricia Taylor), Charlie Rebick (guest of Gordon Douglas), Erik Vanmarcke (guest of Lynne Durkee), Sam Daley-Harris (guest of Patti Daley), Hella McVay (guest of Scott McVay), Pam Wetherill (guest of Dave Wetherill), and Brandt McCabe (guest of Mark Branon).
President George Bustin pointed out that today was the last day for paying annual dues of $100.00 before they would be late, after which dues would be $150.00. Bustin also reminded members that there are new parking restrictions. The narrow extension of Springdale Road must remain unobstructed. Parking is permitted where Springdale widens, above Newlin Road.
Scott McVay introduced our speaker, Professor Sam Wang whose talk is titled “A Pivot Point for U.S. Democracy: 2024 and Beyond.” Professor Wang has degrees in physics from Cal Tech and in neuroscience from Stanford University. He is Princeton University Professor of Neuroscience and has affiliate appointments in the Program in Law and Public Affairs, the Center for Cognitive Science, the Program in Quantitative and Computational Biology, and the Center for Information Technology Policy. Most relevant for today’s lecture, Professor Wang is a founding director of Princeton’s Electoral Innovation Lab.
Professor Wang is a neuroscientist working to build a better democracy, in fact to build a science of democracy reform. He pointed out that, ideally and basically, we want our democracy to represent our concerns, to be flexible in its responses, and to be deliberative. Professor Wang has observed how our electoral system has failed to support these fundamental principles, and he has committed himself to applying his skills as a neuroscientist to make the system better. To this end, he founded the Electoral Innovation Lab and its Vote Maximizer Project.
Professor Wang showed graphs illustrating how there is “something funny about our electoral college.” He showed how the present two-party system does not work for many of us. For instance, 51% of voters identify as Independent in the United States today. That means the concerns of more voters than Republicans and Democrats combined are not being met. Several graphs showed how gerrymandering undercuts voter representation. Non-partisan redistricting occurs every 10 years, dependent upon the census survey, to provide fair voter representation. Gerrymandering is the partisan redrawing of district maps to suit a particular party, whereby “politicians choose their voters and voters do not choose their politicians.” Electoral Lab efforts in redistricting are reflected on the ballots in some states this election cycle.
Professor Wang underscored the obvious need for citizen participation in a democracy. He demonstrated how he quantifies opportunity for voter agency. His Vote Maximizer Project guides effective donations and canvasing. It calculates how likely it is that the outcome of a political race would change if a few votes were added to one side or the other. Vote Maximizer is available online as a non-partisan resource. Share your zip code and you will be shown exactly in which congressional races the power of individual voter action is high. It has calculated, for example, that the Nebraska Senate race, between an independent candidate and the incumbent Republican, is the closest race in the country. If you care about which party wins the Senate, Nebraska is the place to put your influence.
In addition to advocating and directing voter participation in the present election, the Lab is working on several long-term projects for electoral reform: It is testing the efficacy of open primaries where all candidates are on a single ballot in the spring to determine which candidates will appear on the fall ballot. The Lab continues to work on non-partisan redistricting. The Lab is looking closely at ranked choice and fusion voting.
There is more from Professor Wang in his Washington Post article titled “Don’t live in a swing state? You can still influence elections,” and in his TED talk titled “Can Math Help Repair Democracy?”
Respectfully submitted,
Madelaine Shellaby
President George Bustin pointed out that today was the last day for paying annual dues of $100.00 before they would be late, after which dues would be $150.00. Bustin also reminded members that there are new parking restrictions. The narrow extension of Springdale Road must remain unobstructed. Parking is permitted where Springdale widens, above Newlin Road.
Scott McVay introduced our speaker, Professor Sam Wang whose talk is titled “A Pivot Point for U.S. Democracy: 2024 and Beyond.” Professor Wang has degrees in physics from Cal Tech and in neuroscience from Stanford University. He is Princeton University Professor of Neuroscience and has affiliate appointments in the Program in Law and Public Affairs, the Center for Cognitive Science, the Program in Quantitative and Computational Biology, and the Center for Information Technology Policy. Most relevant for today’s lecture, Professor Wang is a founding director of Princeton’s Electoral Innovation Lab.
Professor Wang is a neuroscientist working to build a better democracy, in fact to build a science of democracy reform. He pointed out that, ideally and basically, we want our democracy to represent our concerns, to be flexible in its responses, and to be deliberative. Professor Wang has observed how our electoral system has failed to support these fundamental principles, and he has committed himself to applying his skills as a neuroscientist to make the system better. To this end, he founded the Electoral Innovation Lab and its Vote Maximizer Project.
Professor Wang showed graphs illustrating how there is “something funny about our electoral college.” He showed how the present two-party system does not work for many of us. For instance, 51% of voters identify as Independent in the United States today. That means the concerns of more voters than Republicans and Democrats combined are not being met. Several graphs showed how gerrymandering undercuts voter representation. Non-partisan redistricting occurs every 10 years, dependent upon the census survey, to provide fair voter representation. Gerrymandering is the partisan redrawing of district maps to suit a particular party, whereby “politicians choose their voters and voters do not choose their politicians.” Electoral Lab efforts in redistricting are reflected on the ballots in some states this election cycle.
Professor Wang underscored the obvious need for citizen participation in a democracy. He demonstrated how he quantifies opportunity for voter agency. His Vote Maximizer Project guides effective donations and canvasing. It calculates how likely it is that the outcome of a political race would change if a few votes were added to one side or the other. Vote Maximizer is available online as a non-partisan resource. Share your zip code and you will be shown exactly in which congressional races the power of individual voter action is high. It has calculated, for example, that the Nebraska Senate race, between an independent candidate and the incumbent Republican, is the closest race in the country. If you care about which party wins the Senate, Nebraska is the place to put your influence.
In addition to advocating and directing voter participation in the present election, the Lab is working on several long-term projects for electoral reform: It is testing the efficacy of open primaries where all candidates are on a single ballot in the spring to determine which candidates will appear on the fall ballot. The Lab continues to work on non-partisan redistricting. The Lab is looking closely at ranked choice and fusion voting.
There is more from Professor Wang in his Washington Post article titled “Don’t live in a swing state? You can still influence elections,” and in his TED talk titled “Can Math Help Repair Democracy?”
Respectfully submitted,
Madelaine Shellaby