MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
Gerrymandering. It’s become the embodiment of so many of the evils in the U.S. political system. Frustrated by the lack of competitive elections? Blame gerrymandering. Appalled by the growing number of ideological extremists in Congress? Blame gerrymandering. What about congressional gridlock? Gerrymandering did it.
But the end of gerrymandering would be no panacea. Indeed, gerrymandering may be just as much a symptom of America’s political problems as a cause.
Comments
FYI, this article only addresses political dysfunction. Gerrymandering has certainly contributed to Republican dominance in the House (though they would still have a majority even without gerrymandering).
PS It's also worth mentioning that Iowa--which has been trending red and boasts conservative lunatics like Steve King--uses a nonpartisan commission to draw districts.
by Michael Wolraich on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 3:48pm
There are several possible solutions to the problem of self-segregation within politically monolithic silos. Redrawing districts so that they resemble pie slices with each slice's center a large cosmopolitan city is one. Another is to reduce the total number of districts and then to assign to each district several representatives with the top vote-getters in each election winning the right to represent that district. A third is to assign parties seats based on their share of the total vote in that state's election.
by HSG on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 5:19pm
This was a really long article that in detail debunked the idea that gerrymandering is the cause for more extreme and partisan representatives. But imo that's not the main problem with gerrymandering. There are numerous examples of state houses and the federal house where democrats win a majority of votes in a state while republicans get a majority or even a super majority of house seats. Or even if democrats don't win the majority of votes their representation is vastly less than their percentage of the state wide vote. That's clearly an effect of gerrymandering and the article, the very long article, doesn't even address it. I'm far more concerned with this undemocratic over representation of republicans due to gerrymandering than I am about how extreme or partisan the representatives are.
by ocean-kat on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 6:39pm
My reply is here at Dag...
GERRYMANDERING: IT MIGHT NOT BE "THE PROBLEM" BUT IT SURE NEEDS ATTENTION
~OGD~
by oldenGoldenDecoy on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 6:50pm
Thanks
by rmrd0000 on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 7:01pm
Yes, that's why I add that comment about the House. Republican bias in redistricting is definitely a problem, though I would say that it augmented GOP dominance rather than creating it. Republicans first had to win state majorities in order to redistrict. And as I wrote, the House would still be Republican majority even without gerrymandering, though the majority would be smaller.
That said, many people do blame gerrymandering for polarization, paralysis, etc.
by Michael Wolraich on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 11:45pm
I'd just like to point out that this single article on gerrymandering isn't the only one at FiveThirtyEight.com, rather, It's part of a "project" by them, a conversation. I'll let the header of the whole project tell ya which way these geeks are expecting the conversation might lead, my underlining:
So there ya go: "huge effect on U.S. politics". Yesterday's article was Hating Gerrymandering Is Easy. Fixing It Is Harder, that along with the one you are now citing, seems to fit under the "greatly misunderstood" part. So I'd suggest: read but also wait for some kind of summation before making up minds.
by artappraiser on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 7:08pm
Thanks, as a stand alone this article is pretty narrow and focused on the least of the problem of gerrymandering. But as part of a series it might be more valuable.
by ocean-kat on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 8:33pm
Fair enough. I read one of the other ones but didn't link to it. I don't know if there will be a grand summation though.
by Michael Wolraich on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 11:46pm