Former
United States presidential candidate John B. Anderson, who received 6
million votes as an independent candidate in 1980, served as chair
of FairVote from 1996 until 2008 after four years as chair of its Advisory Board.
John’s recent media appearances include the BBC, NPR and C-SPAN among
others. He is a frequent lecturer and expert commentator on issues of
electoral reform, United Nations reform, foreign affairs, American
politics, and independent candidacies. He also writes regularly on the
role of Congress in both domestic and international affairs. For years
he was president of the World Federalist Association.
Mr. Anderson teaches constitutional law at Nova Southeastern
University. He has taught political science as a visiting professor at
numerous universities, including Bryn Mawr College, Brandeis
University, Stanford University, Oregon State University, the
University of Illinois and the Washington School of Law.
Between 1961 and 1981, Mr. Anderson served ten terms in the U.S. House
of Representatives from the 16th District of Illinois. He served on the
House Rules Committee and for a decade was Chairman of the House
Republican Conference. He served as States Attorney in Winnebago
County, Illinois for four years.
During World War II, Mr. Anderson was a staff sergeant in the U.S.
Field Artillery. In foreign service between 1952 and 1955, he was
Economic Reporting Officer in the Eastern Affairs Division.
Mr. Anderson earned his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign, received an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School in
1949, and has since been awarded honorary doctorates of law from
Wheaton College and Trinity College.
[John Anderson's FairVote Bio on YouTube]
[ Read more on John Anderson in the Harvard Law Bulletin ]
[Watch a video tribute to John Anderson]The Electoral College flunks the test in an age of Democracy
Human Rights, American Bar Association journal
FairVote Chair, John B. Anderson outlines the need to reform our presidential elections.October 27th 2004
Democrat for a day, reformer for life
FairVote Chairman John Anderson discusses the 2004 election and the state of our electoral system. He proposes multimember district proportional representation and instant runoff voting as solutions to reinvigorate American democracy.September 13th 2004
A call for more democracy
The News-Sentinel
FairVote's Chairman John B. Anderson explains how instant runoff voting will ease the spoiler problem in elections and allow voters to vote their true preferences.May 17th 2004
A Better Way to Vote
Legal Times
FairVote's Rob Richie and Fairvote Chair John B. Anderson discuss alternatives to gerrymandering and winner take all electionsFebruary 29th 2004
Creating an Open Electoral Process
John B. Anderson
Versions of this piece appeared in other publications such as the Sacramento Bee, Charlotte News and Observer, Miami Herald, Roll Call, The Hill and Common Dreams. FairVote's Chair John Anderson writes about the benefits of instant runoff voting i[ Previous ] [ Next ]