Winston Apple

The vast majority of Americans agree with the ideal stated in the Declaration of Independence that governments derive their "just powers" from the "consent of the governed". The best way to obtain that consent in a representative democracy is to allow every citizen who is governed by the laws passed by a "Representative Assembly" to submit a proxy designating one member of each such assembly as their representative and then give legislators weighted votes based on the number of voters they represent. (A proxy is “the authority to represent someone else, especially in voting.”) 

If most citizens take advantage of the opportunity to be represented by legislators who "think, feel, reason, and act" like they do (and therefore vote like they would), giving legislators weighted votes will ensure that "equal interests among the People" will have "equal interests" in each "Representative Body". 

The simplest way to determine the value of each legislator's weighted vote is to divide the number of proxies held by each legislator by the number of proxies held by the member of each legislative body with the fewest proxies. This would give the member with the lowest number of proxies a weighted vote with a value of 1.00 and other members weighted votes with a value greater than 1.00. 

"Representation for All" could be adopted for the U. S. House of Representatives through simple legislation, but a constitutional amendment would be required to give weighted votes to U. S. senators because the Senate was designed to represent states, not the people. (The Constitution stipulates that "no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate" and that "each senator shall have one vote"). The nature of the legislation needed to adopt Representation for All for state legislatures varies from state to state.

The Benefits of Representation for All: 

MORE CHOICES FOR VOTERS. The fact that we have extended the right to vote to all citizens over the age of 18 is commendable, but the right to vote is much less valuable when the combined effects of having a two-party system, gerrymandering, and significant barriers to entry (the need to raise enormous amounts of money) lead to very few competitive elections and extremely limited choices for voters. With "Representation for All", citizens throughout the United States will be able to choose any member of the U. S. House as their representative. If even one of the 435 members shares their values, views, and opinions, each voter will be represented by a member who is likely to vote the same way they would vote. If Representation for All is extended to the U. S. Senate, each voter will have the same type of choice for any of 100 senators. The same principles will apply in any state that adopts "Representation for All" for their state legislature.  

REPRESENTATION FOR ALL IS AS CLOSE TO "PURE DEMOCRACY" AS POSSIBLE IN A REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY. Direct democracy is sometimes referred to as "pure democracy" because laws and public policies are determined by the decisions of the majority of voters in free and fair elections, with each voter having a single vote. Allowing every citizen to designate the legislator they believe is most likely to vote the same way they would vote on issues of concern to them ensures that "equal interests among the People (will) have equal interests in the Representative Assembly" and the votes in Congress (or a state legislature) will align closely with what the results would have been if the voters had voted directly on legislation.  

REPRESENTATION FOR ALL IS CONSISTENT WITH THE PRINCIPLE THAT GOVERNMENTS DERIVE THEIR "JUST POWERS" FROM THE "CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED".  Every person in the United States is governed by the laws and policies enacted by Congress. Every person in each state is governed by the laws and policies enacted by their state legislature. The Declaration of Independence says that governments derive their "just powers" from "the consent of the governed. With "Representation for All", every citizen will be represented in Congress and their state legislator.  

ALL CITIZENS ARE REPRESENTED. In our present system, members of Congress and state legislatures consider their "constituents" to be the people who live in the district they represent (or the state they represent, in the case of members of the U. S. Senate). This leaves Democrats in predominantly Republican districts (or states) and Republicans in predominantly Democratic districts (or states) feeling (with considerable justification) that they are not represented in Congress (or their state legislature) by anyone for whom they voted. But every person in the United States is governed by the laws and policies enacted by Congress. And every person in each state is governed by the laws and policies enacted by their state legislature. The Declaration of Independence says that governments derive their "just powers" from "the consent of the governed. With "Representation for All", every citizen will be represented in Congress and their state legislature regardless of where they live.  

LEGISLATING IN HARMONY WITH THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE WILL BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN RAISING MONEY.  Raising and spending money will still play a role in elections, especially for non-incumbents, but if enough citizens focus on determining which member of a legislature is most likely to vote the way they would vote when deciding which legislators to designate as their representatives, legislators will find that voting in harmony with the will of the people is the primary means of increasing the value of their weighted vote. And in considering which incumbents should be replaced, the relative value of each incumbents weighted vote would offer voters a clear, simple, and objective method of determining which incumbents do the best job of representing the will of the people and which incumbents need to be replaced. That will serve to further reduce the influence of money in our political system.  

CITIZENS CAN CHANGE THEIR REPRESENTATIVES MORE FREQUENTLY THAN THEY CAN THROUGH ELECTIONS.  Allowing citizens to change their proxy once or twice a year would make legislators much more responsive to the will of the people. Citizens would not have to wait for an election that is nearly two, four, or six years away to register their displeasure with legislators who are failing to keep their campaign promises or opposing legislation favored by a majority of the citizenry. Legislators who fail to act in harmony with the will of the citizens who have given them their proxies would see the value of their weighted vote (and their power) decrease immediately. Conversely, legislators who are actively promoting and supporting legislation favored by the citizenry would see the value of their weighted votes increase.  

THE PROXY METHOD WILL PROVIDE INSTANT RELEIF FOR VOTERS WHO HAVE BEEN VICTIMIZED BY THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF FLAWED ELECTIONS OR VOTER SUPPRESSION TACTICS.  Our elections are 'unfair, partial, and corrupt" because of the limitations inherent in a duopoly (two-party system), gerrymandering, and the corrupting influence of money. The proxy method circumvents those flaws in the way we conduct elections, making sure that all (or at least most) citizens are represented in Congress and their state legislature. The limits on the choices of voters as a result of the effects of gerrymandering and the corrupting effects of money would be neutralized and made largely irrelevant by allowing citizens to designate any member of a legislative body as their representative. That doesn't mean we shouldn't continue working to address the flaws in the way we conduct elections, but it does mean that we could largely eliminate the anti-democratic consequences of those flaws in the meantime.

Complementary Legislation: 

Ranked choice voting (RCV) with at-large elections or multiple-member districts would be a valuable complement to representation for all, giving citizens a more diverse group of legislators from which to choose when submitting proxies. RCV with at-large elections or multiple-member districts would be especially important voters who prefer to be represented by someone from their own state or district, giving them far more choices. This approach should be very appealing to states that want to maximize the value of the weighted votes of their own representatives. Giving states that option would require the repeal of the Uniform Congressional District Act, which requires states to have single-member districts.  

The fact that citizens can change their proxies once or twice a year would make frequent elections less necessary for purposes of holding elected representatives accountable. That would make it possible to give representatives longer terms, which would reduce the need for legislators to spend inordinate amounts of time raising money non-stop. That would decrease the corrupting influence of money in our elections.  

If we amend our Constitution to eliminate the presidential veto and either merge the House and Senate to make Congress a unicameral legislature or extend Representation for All with weighted votes to the U. S. Senate, the most powerful person in the federal government will be the member of Congress (or the U. S. Senate) with the weighted vote with the greatest value. And that person will come by her or his power by being the legislator who has been selected by the most citizens as voting in harmony with their will - collectively the will of the people.