Building a Healthier Democracy

The report analyzes how electoral rules—including registration eligibility, voting processes, and districting—impact voter turnout, particularly in environmental justice communities. It finds that socioeconomic distress and poor air quality are significant depressors of turnout, and that states with biased districting plans tend to have higher levels of air toxin exposure. The authors argue that restrictive election laws insulate powerful interests and weaken environmental protections, citing the Flint water crisis as an example of legislative dysfunction resulting from gerrymandering. The document recommends reforms such as automatic voter registration, nonpartisan redistricting, and proportional representation to improve government responsiveness and public health outcomes.

• Socioeconomic distress and poor air quality independently depress congressional voter turnout. In the 2016 elections, socioeconomic distress had more than twice the impact of any set of election rules, while the impact of air toxin exposure in the 2014 midterms was equivalent to that of socioeconomic distress, causing a 5 to 7 percent decrease in turnout.
• There is a correlation between biased congressional districting and higher levels of air pollution. States with biased districting plans are more likely to exhibit higher levels of air toxin exposure at both the state and district levels.
• Voter eligibility requirements have the strongest overall institutional impact on turnout. Expanding eligibility, such as through automatic voter registration (AVR), significantly boosts participation in both midterm and presidential elections.
• Uncontested races significantly reduce voter turnout, more so than any other electoral feature except socioeconomic distress during presidential elections.
• Restrictive electoral institutions and partisan gerrymandering can lead to the neglect of public safety and environmental health. In Flint, Michigan, an "emergency manager" law passed by a legislature kept in power through gerrymandering allowed the governor to switch municipal water to the contaminated Flint River, exposing over 100,000 residents to lead.
• The report identifies several evidence-based reforms to improve representation, including automatic voter registration, felon enfranchisement, nonpartisan redistricting, and the adoption of ranked-choice or proportional voting systems.

APA

Anair, D., & Mahmassani, A. (2018). Building a Healthier Democracy. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/09/building-a-healthier-democracy-report.pdf

Chicago

Anair, Don, and Amine Mahmassani. Building a Healthier Democracy. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2018. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/09/building-a-healthier-democracy-report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Anair |first1=Don |last2=Mahmassani |first2=Amine |title=Building a Healthier Democracy |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=August 2018 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/09/building-a-healthier-democracy-report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{anair2018building, author = {Anair, Don and Mahmassani, Amine}, title = {{Building a Healthier Democracy}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2018}, month = aug, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/09/building-a-healthier-democracy-report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }