Legislative redistricting in nature is a simple concept. However, the implication of legislative redistricting arises complications. Redistricting is a powerful tool used by our government. It influences how a state will be represented and in turn how the people will be represented. The misuse of this power can lead to catastrophic consequences. Redistricting in itself is not a political question, but because of its implication and threat to the right to vote, it becomes one.
Redistricting is the redrawing of the lines for states’ districts. When redistricting occurs the districts are accommodated to the population of the country. A state may lose or gain districts within its borders, but the country will maintain 435 representatives throughout the country. The reallocation of the representative districts is called reapportionment. When reapportionment occurs the representation of the state is likely to change. To counteract this shift of representation the elected Congressmen will
…show more content…
Ensuring the vote by drawing the district 's lines, entails that normal constituents of a party will have their right to vote violated. The Voting Right Act while allowing this dilution, does not consider the fact that the votes become so diluted that they are meaningless. Making a vote meaningless does not only throw the concept of voting out, but also the basis of this country, democracy. Democracy is the decision making process exercising the authority to solve public problem, according to the three principles of: Popular Sovereignty, Political Equality, Majority Rule. The principle of political equality is being ignored by making a group’s vote diluted to the point where it means nothing, makes their vote unequal to others. By stripping away the right to vote, people within the state are not correctly
The article is written by Richard Fenno in 1978, summarizing the dilemma of congressmen in the contemporary time. The author was specifically discussing about members of the House, who always seek for reelection during his legislative career, as stated in the initial part of the paper. Fenno went on to propose the conflict in incumbent congressmen 's career: more attention for the Washington career leads to less attention for the congressmen 's home state. The Washington career required commitment to build up support within the House. However, focusing on Washington rendered the congressman homeless, or losing his home 's supportive forces.
Small states wanted equal representation, and large states wanted representation based on
The Texas Legislative Branch of Government The Texas Constitution divides the state government into three separate: the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch. These three branches share equal power within the Texas State governemt. The executive branch is lead by the governor, the judicial branch consists of the Texas Supreme Court and the local courts around the state, finally, the legislative branch, is lead by the Texas Legislature, which includes the 150 members of the house of representatives and the 31 members of the state senate. These members of the house of representatives are elected to two-year terms and Senators serve four-year terms.
Given the legal nature of the gerrymandering issue, there is an extensive legal background on the issue since the ninetieth century. This literature review gives the more relevant legal background regarding Pennsylvania’s current situation, as well as background information on the novel ways that policy-makers and researchers measure political gerrymandering. Keeping the legal background and measurement procedures in context, there are also legislative reforms and commission procedures that states have taken in order to ameliorate the problems that arise from gerrymandering. A. Constitutionality & Legal Background The Pennsylvania State Constitution contains relevant clauses that must be applied to any redistricting plan.
Previous representatives include Ben Chandler, who was a Democrat and served from February 17th, 2004 to January 3rd, 2013, and Ernie Fletcher, who was a Republican and served from January 3rd 1999 to December 8th, 2013 after resigning when elected Governor of Kentucky. In very recent years, from 1979 to present, Representatives have had a “tug-of-war” game with elected Representatives’ party affiliations switching from Republican to Democrat between every election. However, from 1979 to 1866, Kentucky’s 6th district was represented solely by Democrats with only one Republican representative being elected within 113 years. During this time, in 1931, Kentucky 6th congressional district was changed to an at-large district and continues to use the at-large voting system to this
The political theorists David R. Mayhew, Gary W. Cox, and Matthew D. McCubbins argue on how the US Congress functions. They focus on the members of Congress and their actions. The basis of disagreement between the theorists lies in what Congress members find of importance. Mayhew argues that members of Congress, primarily concern themselves with reelection, as such, any action taken only benefits that. Cox and McCubbins’, however, formulate that Congress functions on the basis of majority party control and unity.
The popularity of the members of Congress and Congress overall has been declining as the years pass and time changes. The dissatisfaction and disapproval of the public is so high because according to David Mayhew who wrote Congress the Electoral Connection members of Congress are single-minded people who are only focused on reelection, involve in “smart” behavior such as position taking, credit-claiming and advertisement. Also, according to Mayhew parties are weak, however, that is all not true people tend to vote more so for their party than the person in general. Arnold the writer of Logic of Congressional Outcome, states that Congress has many things to take into account such as citizen preference, robe-challenger, has to take into account
We see multiple successes of voting equality attempted through amendments, however, the Supreme Court’s decision on Shelby County v. Holder has pushed back years and years of effort for voting rights. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling was in Shelby County’s favor, stating that the Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional along with Section 5. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr, who wrote the majority’s opinion, said that the power to regulate election was reserved to the states, not the federal government. As a result to the court’s decision, the federal government can no longer determine which voting law discriminates and can be passed. After the case, many states had freely passed new voting laws; the most common voting law states passed
This new change could lead to having more people interested in politics, it could also bring a bigger younger demographic of voters to vote, and it could bring a better representation of the opinions in the county. This
Texas is the second most populated and second largest state in United State. Due to its size, Texas contains diverse landscapes that resemble both American South and Southwest. Most of the population centers are located in areas of formers prairies, grass lands, forests, and the coastline. The current Texas Constitution was adopted in 1876. Like most of the states, it also provides for a separation off power.
In my essay I will provide three reasons why I do not believe Texas is operating within a democracy-a political system where the many rule. According to Author Robert Dahl, a democracy should provide opportunities for effective participation, equality in voting and inclusion of adults. There are socioeconomic factors- such ethnicity, education and income which are mentioned by author of our textbook, that impact voter participation. To begin, let’s look at the role a person ethnicity plays in a democracy. Next, examine the level of education and how it correlates to voting.
With more representatives, it would be easier to form and build coalitions around specific issues and policies. This would help to reduce the gridlock that currently plagues Congress and make it easier for lawmakers to pass meaningful legislation. Additionally, an increase in the number of representatives would help to reduce the workload of each individual member of Congress, allowing them to spend more time focusing on the needs and concerns of their
But recently gerrymandering has become more controversial because people feel that it has taken away their rights as a voter and it swings the votes to one side by a big percentage. Current cases are before the courts to decide if gerrymandering is legal. Some states have been discussing whether it should still be allowed during elections. “Many efforts are underway to remedy this political
In advising the Chief Justice, it is obvious that the voting districts should be redrawn for a multitude of reasons. As the system of drawing districts stands, it is highly vulnerable to corruption for the party in power, as they are the ones deciding the districts. Concurrently, those in power are incentivized to maintain their power through any means necessary; which, in a democracy, is obtaining the most votes. Because it is extremely difficult determining whether or not the drawing of a district is preferential to one party over another is, the risk to those in power is minimal while the potential payout is high. Thus, short of any moral reasoning to stop them, the likelihood of someone gaming the design of voting districts is high.
In the United States, people always talk about freedom and equality. Especially they want elections could be more democratic. In American Democracy in Peril, Hudson’s main argument regarding chapter five “Election Without the People’s Voice,” is if elections want to be democratic, they must meet three essential criteria, which are to provide equal representation of all citizens, to be mechanisms for deliberation about public policy issues, and to control what government does. Unfortunately, those points that Hudson mentions are what American elections do not have. American elections do not provide equal representation to everyone in the country.