Gerrymandering is the biggest obstacle to genuine democracy in the United States....
So why is no one protesting?By Brian Klaas
In the 2016 elections for the House of Representatives, the average electoral margin of victory was 37.1 percent. Thats a figure youd expect from North Korea, Russia or Zimbabwe not the United States. But the shocking reality is that the typical race ended with a Democrat or a Republican winning nearly 70 percent of the vote, while their challenger won just 30 percent.
Last year, only 17 seats out of 435 races were decided by a margin of 5 percent or less. Just 33 seats in total were decided by a margin of 10 percent or less. In other words, more than 9 out of 10 House races were landslides where the campaign was a foregone conclusion before ballots were even cast. In 2016, there were no truly competitive Congressional races in 42 of the 50 states. That is not healthy for a system of government that, at its core, is defined by political competition.
Gerrymandering, in a word, is why American democracy is broken.
While no party is innocent when it comes to gerrymandering, a Washington Post analysis in 2014 found that eight of the ten most gerrymandered districts in the United States were drawn by Republicans.
As a result, districts from the Illinois 4th to the North Carolina 12th often look like spilled inkblots rather than coherent voting blocs. They are anything but accidental. The Illinois 4th, for example, is nicknamed the Latin Earmuffs, because it connects two predominantly Latino areas by a thin line that is effectively just one road. In so doing, it packs Democrats into a contorted district, ensuring that those voters cast ballots in a safely Democratic preserve. The net result is a weakening of the power of Latino votes and more Republican districts than the electoral math should reasonably yield. Because Democrats are packed together as tightly as possible in one district, Republicans have a chance to win surrounding districts even though they are vastly outnumbered geographically.
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Moreover, gerrymandering also disempowers and distorts citizen votes which leads to decreased turnout and a sense of powerlessness. In 2010, droves of tea party activists eager to have their voices heard quickly realized that their own representative was either a solidly liberal Democrat in an overwhelmingly blue district or a solidly conservative Republican in an overwhelmingly red district. Those representatives would not listen because the electoral map meant that they didnt need to.
Those who now oppose President Trump are quickly learning the same lesson about the electoral calculations made by their representatives as they make calls or write letters to congressional representatives who seem about as likely to be swayed as granite. This helps to explain why 2014 turnout sagged to just 36.4 percent, the lowest turnout rate since World War II. Why bother showing up when the result already seems preordained?
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J_William_Ryan
(1,748 posts)most Republican controlled red states will retain their gerrymandered districts that benefit Republicans.
SamKnause
(13,087 posts)They can not win elections without lying, stealing, and conning their constituents.
They hide behind the Christian religion to spread hate, fear, and racism.
They are EVIL !!!
They are the greatest threat this country and the world faces.
Fuck Trump !!!
Fuck Republicans !!!
They want to turn America into a police state theocracy controlled by Wall Street.
EVIL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)I feel the problem with the cause of fighting gerrymandering is due to the simple fact that the masses don't readily know what it is!
It doesn't resonate nearly as clearly or personally as reproductive rights/health, educating children, losing health insurance, Medicare, social security...or having safe water and air.
Look how many of the Cretin's supporters don't know that the ACA IS Obamacare.
And Republicans are souless bastards.
JHan
(10,173 posts)Once politics is focused on the local ( and not just on "D.C" , where decisions at the municipal level are tied to everyday experiences and challenges, minds will be swayed.
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)Gatherings that now are springing up all over the place. In part, the Women's March awakened normally passive people to focus their fear and especially their anger to local meetings to make simple strategies for resistance and organization.
(One such group in Ohio is Action Together. And it is spreading! Check your area for similar organized citizens.)
JHan
(10,173 posts)(And I'm familiar with Action Together in N.Y too )
Broadly tho, what's interesting to me is that in the era of globalisation ( which I'm heartily in favor of) we're seeing organic movements spring up to solve local problems - not just in the U.S but even China as well ( for example the New Citizens movement which is a pain for local officials because they make noise about corruption). The thing about these movements is that they're not insular but emergent and uniquely catered to problem solving at the grassroots level.