dagblog - Comments for "Gerrymandering Isn't the Problem"

Fair enough. I read one of

Michael Wolraich — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 04:46:25 +0000

In reply to And this single article on

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.

Yes, that's why I add that

Michael Wolraich — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 04:45:25 +0000

In reply to This was a really long

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.

Thanks, as a stand alone this

ocean-kat — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 01:33:30 +0000

In reply to And this single article on

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.

And this single article on

artappraiser — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 00:08:43 +0000

In reply to Gerrymandering Isn't the Problem

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:

The Gerrymandering Project

Redistricting has a huge effect on U.S. politics but is greatly misunderstood. This project uncovers what’s really broken, what's not and whether gerrymandering can (or should) be killed.

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.

Thanks

rmrd0000 — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 00:01:11 +0000

In reply to My reply is here at Dag...

Thanks

My reply is here at Dag...

oldenGoldenDecoy — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 23:50:32 +0000

In reply to This was a really long

My reply is here at Dag...

GERRYMANDERING: IT MIGHT NOT BE "THE PROBLEM" BUT IT SURE NEEDS ATTENTION

~OGD~

This was a really long

ocean-kat — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 23:39:13 +0000

In reply to Gerrymandering Isn't the Problem

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.

There are several possible

HSG — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 22:19:19 +0000

In reply to Gerrymandering Isn't the Problem

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.

FYI, this article only

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 20:48:00 +0000

In reply to Gerrymandering Isn't the Problem

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.