Gerken's The Democracy Index

We all endeavor to live “the good life” to one or another level, but do we know what would get us from where we are to “there?” We are often consumed by the aforesaid idea that and ignore the fact that we have to “smooth the road that leads there.” Similarly, reformers and policymakers of the electoral system in the United States, propose reforms without substantial data to evaluate where the county/state/country stands. Without a starting point, how could there be an ending point?
In The Democracy Index, Heather K. Gerken, convincingly insinuates that ranking states (and counties) by assessing quantitative matters may bring a nation-wide transformation in the American electoral system. Although there are segments of the picture the index …show more content…
Gerken acknowledges that states often provide false information in regards to the number of poll workers or voter turnout. In The Measures of American Elections, Barry C. Burden and Charles Stewart III, declare that such indexes, although helpful, must be reliable and valid in order to have the maximum desired impact. Furthermore, execution of such a wide-covering index will require material resources as well as years of commitment from a scrupulous and dedicated group of individuals—an issue neither Gerken nor Burden & Stewart referred to. While the latter of the authors discuss how we could obtain valid and reliable data, they also admit that, “A state’s data do not necessarily tell a single story about election performance.”
Creation of the domain Gerken discusses may take years and do little, but what are our other options? While acknowledging the seemingly unfeasibility of the index, Burden and Stewart state, “it is possible to conduct systematic evaluation of election performance.” In a nutshell, as Gerken insinuates, via the nuts-and bolts approach, we would slowly bring paramount amendments—albeit with the rightful execution of such an