I gather that some people think the distinction between a liberal and a leftist is that liberals believe that goverance demands the balance of many interest groups, while a leftist believes that discussion must be framed in terms of power. I guess that makes me a bit more of a leftist than a liberal.

I’m surprised that the recent problems that the European Union has had deciding on voting rules to embed in their constitution hasn’t given rise to more discussion around the blogging community. It’s a classic hard problem. How do your translate existing power and institutions into the voting power of new institutions? In the US we carry the legacy of that same debate in the disproportionate power of low population states in the senate. Which in turn is only reason our interstate highway are more grid than scale free network while our cities lack robust public transportation and good schools.

Meanwhile the Repulicans are revisiting the meme: “ownership society”. That’s such a transparent argument for voting rules based on wealth vs citizenship. People fall for that?