Realizing that the deck is stacked against them, but recognizing that constitutional amendments are a pipe dream, some Democrats have called for structural reforms that could be accomplished with a simple majority in Congress: court packing, filibuster reform, and the legally dubious Senate Reform Act, to name a few. These proposals, while perhaps well intentioned, are inadequate. At best, they are temporary fixes—the minute Republicans regain control, they will retaliate in kind. And given the structural advantages enjoyed by Republicans, Democrats are unlikely to benefit in the long run.

A better solution to the problem of minority rule would address it directly. Democrats—if and when they regain control of Congress—should add new states whose congressional representatives would likely be Democrats. In areas that are not currently states, like Washington, D.C., or territories like Puerto Rico, this could be done with a simple congressional majority. But Democrats should also consider breaking up populous Democratic states and “un-gerrymandering” the Senate. Perhaps there could be a North and South California, or an East and West Massachusetts. A new state of Long Island, an area that is geographically larger than Rhode Island, would be more populous than most of the presently existing states.

In the short term, new Democratic states would remedy the advantages Republicans currently hold in the Senate—and, to a lesser extent, the Electoral College—which allow a party to control the federal government despite a lack of popular support. And unlike other progressive proposals, the risk of retaliation and escalation is low. Because adding states would also add Democratic senators, there would be no way for Republicans to immediately add states of their own without an overwhelming electoral victory.

In the longer term, new Democratic states would open the door to conversations about constitutional amendments that would make American democracy fairer. Although they are currently unrealistic, amendments to abolish the Electoral College or reform the Senate become much more plausible if Republicans no longer enjoy a political advantage because of those institutions. New states, and the implicit threat of more, would provide the leverage necessary to build a more equitable system.

Democrats’ current predicament stems from provisions in the Constitution that treat voters differently depending on where they live. Voters in small states get extra influence in the Senate, and voters in large battleground states get extra influence in the Electoral College. Meanwhile, voters in large states have their votes diluted in the Senate, and citizens who don’t live in states—like D.C. or U.S. territories—have no meaningful representation in Congress. As a result, Democrats can routinely win the majority of votes cast in federal elections but fail to translate those votes into power because their voters are in the wrong places.