Building a Better Democracy: Electoral Reform in Washington State

Abstract

Democracies are neither all the same nor are they static. Democracy must necessarily change to improve upon previous failures in an effort to reach the ideal. Washington State is no stranger to this process, having eliminated the blanket primary after the United States Supreme Court struck down a similar electoral system in California as unconstitutional. The Top-Two Primary system that arose out of the need to comply with the Supreme Court's decision has been positive for Washington State. Despite satisfaction with the system, however, the large population of Independently minded voters in Washington must still live with an electoral system that continues to protect incumbents and the two-party system. An opportunity for reform passed by even as academics and reform groups explored the question of how to make democracy better in Washington State and the United States at large.