III.

Application in the U.S.

The Hare System and the principles of proportional representation were advocated by municipal reformers in the U.S. during the early 20th century. The movement for proportional representation finally brought the system to 23 towns and cities, where reformers said that it would give each vote its maximum influence. They hoped to prevent “boss” and “machine” politics and to assure honest representation of minority groups. In Cincinnati, Ohio, the reformers of the 1920s used proportional representation to break the power of the local Republican Party, which had dictated civic affairs for more than a generation. In New York City, where the system was used from 1937 to 1948, it was directed against the domination of the Democratic Party. In both cities the proportional system permitted the representation of groups normally excluded by majority politics, such as blacks, socialists, and Communists. Opponents argued that the system was too complicated and that it offered an undesirable attraction to extremists. It was subsequently abandoned in New York and Cincinnati and in other cities that had adopted it. In the 1970s, the Democratic Party began using proportional representation in selecting delegates to its national political convention.