A proposal to split California into three separate states won enough votes in last night’s primary to be added to the midterm ballot in that state.

It’s a great idea. It just doesn’t go far enough.

I saw a poll today stating that 61% of Americans would like to see major updates to our system of government. You don’t have to be a genius—or a partisan—to see that we’ve spiraled down into a state of paralysis.

There’s just one huge problem with those “major updates.” Most of them can’t be done without amending the Constitution, and we are at the point that this is literally impossible, given that an amendment requires supermajorities in both houses of Congress and the blessing of two-thirds of the state legislatures.

What kind of “major updates,” then, are even possible without making a change to the Constitution?

I just read a fascinating book on this topic, “It’s Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics,” by David Faris, a political science professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Faris is an unapologetic Democratic partisan who, like many of us, are ready for taking bold steps to relevel the playing field in American politics. “It’s Time to Fight Dirty” is a short, highly engaging read on a deadly serious topic. And it makes clear-headed, specific suggestions that at first read struck me as audacious or beyond the pale but now seem sensible, pragmatic, and—possibly—doable.

Some core precepts of the book:
• The book’s title is provocative, not literal. Nothing that Faris proposes is illegal or unethical.
• None of Faris’ supposed changes would require a Constitutional amendment. “If progressive leaders are going to craft workarounds to some of the problems of contemporary American politics, they are going to have to do so within the framework of the U.S. Constitution rather than outside of it.”
• The actions proposed by Faris are only possible if the Democrats take control of both houses of Congress and win control of more governorships and state legislatures. (These are possible outcomes from this year’s midterms.)
• Faris wastes no time on delusional pipe dreams like impeachment or the invocation of Article 25 to depose Trump. First of all, those actions will never happen, and Faris is focused on steps that are at least theoretically achievable. Second, Faris is concerned with our outdated system of government, not the deficiencies of its key players.
• “Almost all of the design flaws in U.S. politics today empower Republicans at the expense of Democrats.”
• “The GOP has proven that it no longer exists somewhere along the ordinary two-party ideological spectrum in America. Rather, they have morphed into an antisystem party, whose goal is to destroy voter participation and erect a kind of ‘hybrid democracy,’ where façade elections are held but where real executive power is not at stake.”

Faris lays out a convincing host of actions that progressive Democrats can take if and when they achieve power, beginning with this year’s midterm elections. I strongly recommend that you read this book, so I don’t want to telegraph all of Faris' suggestions in this post, but I can mention some of the most impactful ones.

Chop California up into three states? Faris contends that we should create SEVEN states from what is now California. And give Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood, too. This would address what Faris contends is the biggest problem keeping us from making progress in this country: the representational structure of the Senate. California has 37 million people. South Dakota has 869,000 people. Yet both states have two votes in the Senate. Insanity, and a built-in recipe for a tyranny of the minority. Congress has the power to create new states.

Still (for good reason!) fuming about the theft of the Garland Supreme Court seat? Reclaim it, says Faris, by adding another seat. Better yet, says the author, add FOUR more seats to the Supreme Court. Congress decides how many justices are on the Supreme Court; it decided on nine in 1869.

Faris goes on to offer concrete suggestions on other important actions, including changes to Senate rules, the abolishment of winner-take-all elections, and a modern Voting Rights Act to ensure that voting is universal and easy.

Of course, each of Faris’ recommendations has major implications and is worthy of an in-depth, coherent rationale not possible on Facebook, and he does a great job of setting the context for each change and making the case for why they are not just doable but essential to our survival and to our progress.

Check out “It’s Time to Fight Dirty.”