Redistricting has been a cause of debate for many years in the United States. The process of manipulating the boundaries of voting districts for party or class gain is as old as our nation. In 1788, Gerrymandering was already being used by Patrick Henry to put James Madison at a disadvantage in the race for presidency (Barasch). Although certain rules are in place – like how districts must be contiguous and and compact – there is little said about the actual process of redistricting in the constitution, which is why redistricting has been taken so wildly out of its constitutional context through the centuries. Many states and activist groups have tried to reform the redistricting process, but only twenty-one states utilize a non-partisan commission …show more content…
What can we do to ensure a redistricting plan that is fully constitutional in the fact that it represents the most perfect cross-section of American society? The answer is complicated. Although the idea of an independent redistricting commission sounds like a safe bet – there has to be certain things in place for it to actually be effective in making the voting process fair. A member of this independent commission would come from a relatively apolitical source. But this “apolitical source” can be fudged. Does simply the absence of a record of contribution to a political party or running for office in a partisan election make a person an independent? We can never know the true independence of someone who can be appointed for a commission like this. And once the group is appointed, the next issue is to decide how to break up districts. Information should be provided to the commission because unfair districts would likely occur if districts were drawn out of random geographic order. Given partisan info, we can assume that the fairest way to break up districts is to aim for the most competitive fight between parties in each district (LaBrant). However, this can be tough in areas of thick concentrations of either type of party. Districts should be decided based on competitiveness, and then geographic location, never for an individual or party
Because there are two practices for effective gerrymandering, there can be political advantages for the parties. The two successful practices are the “Packing a district” and “cracking a district” (Greer 1). The packing a district means to gain more and more districts in favor (Greer 1). This will cause less packing or votes to go to the opposed party. It is simple.
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 system of political parties serves to accurately sort Americans into categories based on political views, but this often serves to wage animosity between groups, especially when one group holds more political power than the
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
But, if you were in the same district and opposed the current political party, you might say that gerrymandering is unfair because they give the current party in power an advantage. It gives them an advantage because they are the ones that author the redrawing of districts.
The history of political parties in Texas is marked by nearly a century of Democratic Party dominance followed by a realignment that shifted the balance of power in favor if the republicans. Political science professor Cal Jilson noted that the dominance of one party in Texas has been a result of the state’s dominant values. Both parties in Texas today reflect more conservative versions of their national counterparts. The other chapter talks about the Interest groups in Texas. Interest groups plays a critical role in all democratic systems of government.
Being a person of politics yourself, you of all people should know that many compromises have been made over the course of the establishment of the United States. However, some of the compromises, like the electoral college, were made because of factors in the past and are now not needed in today’s modern democracy. While the electoral college once worked as a compromise in the past, it is an archaic system that unfairly represents the votes of citizens all across the nation. A popular vote should instead be utilized to fairly choose the people of power in this country and would better represent voters’ opinions. In implementing the electoral college, most states’ votes either go to one candidate or the other, leading to candidates to only campaign in swing states (Bradford Plumer 13).
Briefly, in the evolution of the Texas political system, Texas’s history has been through many situations that shaped the political structure in Texas to become to what it is today. Many changes were responsible for the impact in the history of Texas such as the Texas revolution, the Alamo war with Mexico, military reconstruction act in 1867, etc. Before the war with Mexico, one of the most important impact in Texas history was the Republic of Texas Constitution in 1836. Texas and Mexico have an escalating tension and is responsible for the new change in the Texas state constitution. For the cause of the Republic of Texas Constitution in 1836, Texas begins by declaring its independence in 1836, established the Republic of Texas, and decided to adopt the new constitution.
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
The Electoral College requires a presidential candidate to have trans-regional appeal. Trans-regional appeal is when a presidential candidate tries to appeal to all or more than one region. No region has enough electoral votes to elect a president. For example, “So a solid regional favorite, such as Romney was in the South, has no incentive to campaign heavily in those states, for he gains no electoral votes by increasing his popularity in states that he knows he will.” The Electoral College makes it so that presidential candidates have to campaign in more than one region to get more support.
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.
Several years after the United States came to be, the Constitutional Convention met to determine how the new nation should govern itself. The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. The delegates believed that the president’s power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the electing of the president and vice president. Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nation’s principle of representative democracy, while others
In the short story called, “The American Electoral Process,” Kubic explained to us about why he disagrees with how the Constitution and the Congress take all votes for every single state as well as being unalike in population and size in which he would tell of as
People always want to demand their essential rights from government’s restriction by passing new laws. There was a period when people demanded their rights in the 1900s. Within the United States, most African Americans’ rights were denied by state governments. Hence, in the 1960s, they took a stand on requiring their rights through the Civil Rights movement around the country. During this movement, the Voting Rights Act was significant and for the reason is that this act gave African Americans a chance to participate in US politics by their votes.
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.