Show notes
Join Harry and Philip as they welcome their first guest to Bird's Eye! Benjamin Singer, the executive director of the Missouri-based voting reform organization Show Me Integrity, sits down with the editors. We discuss "approval runoff," an alternative electoral system that Show Me Integrity helped enact in St. Louis, the value of political parties, and the ultimate aims of voting reforms.--Visit Show Me Integrity's website, and show them some love!Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter!To comment on this episode, click here!To listen to written articles from Spectacles read aloud, click here!Follow us on Twitter!--Table of Contents00:00 - Intro & Housekeeping00:32 - Recap & Today's Topic01:28 - Welcoming Benjamin Singer02:21 - What's the problem needs solving in our politics?06:52 - How can reform address this?12:49 - What is Approval voting? How does it work?17:45 - Can we work with the two-party system?23:06 - What is the value of parties generally?25:28 - Is Approval voting the best, or merely practical?28:10 - How manageable are the challenges to reform?33:01 - Reform for moderation or for representation?37:26 - How do these structures shape voters' and officials' behavior?40:17 - Thanks to Benjamin Singer41:13 - Signing off
