Gerrymandering is drawing political boundaries so that your political party has a numerical advantage over the other party.1 An illustrative example of how to win a district through gerrymandering from a Washington Post article is on the right. Gerrymandering could concentrate opposing votes into a few districts to gain more seats for a majority in certain districts. Gerrymandering can also be used to help or hinder a certain demographic, like a political, racial, linguistic, religious or class group. For example, two terms used in gerrymandering are “packing” and “cracking”. “Cracking” is when officeholders decrease the opposition party’s votes by splitting its voters across several districts. This in turn, makes it difficult for the party
In effect, the individual member leans towards individualistic policies that are beneficial to maintaining office. In Mayhew’s argument he presents the “marginal congressman”, making the point that individuals should ignore national trends and, “…treat them as acts of God over which they can exercise no control.” (p. 129). As he states further, “It makes much more sense to devote resources to things over which they think they can have some control.”
In a presidential campaign, a completely split party
In the article Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America, Morris Fiorina addresses the issue of the illusion of political polarization. Political polarization is the separation of political beliefs into two separate extremes. The main illustration Fiorina uses is the use the electoral map. The electoral map is used to gauge which party won an election or polling.
Gerrymandering restrictions is likely to be a key topic of debate for the Supreme Court as partisan lines have tested the constitutionality of the act. While this process of redrawing boundary lines has been around for a long time, it is not the same that it once was. The act of gerrymandering and redrawing boundaries has become more of a drastic partisan act in the modern election world than ever before because of technology. The 1986 Supreme Court ruling in Davis v. Bandemer declared partisan gerrymandering for electoral advantage justiciable under the United States Constitution. The asymmetry standard in testing for gerrymandering states that the act needs to exhibit intentions that partisan gerrymandering would be recognized for its given distribution of popular votes, if parties switch who holds the popular vote and if the number of seats in a district would change unequally based on Supreme Court cases Vieth v. Jubelirer and LULAC v. Perry.
Party strength is a measure of the ability of a party to get people to vote for its candidates. The post-World War II shift in party strength was part of a massive shift in policy over time. Scholars saw Republican politicians increasingly excel at getting elected at the local level (Lublin 2006), to offices in the state (Hayes and McKee 2007), and federal governments (Black and Black 2002, 1992; Shafer and Johnston 2006). It is difficult to see how the Republican Party would have become the majority in Congress in 1994 without the increased voting strength in the South. This marked a dramatic shift in national policy.
There are many healthcare disparities involving parasitic infection. One disparity, for example, is that any one can get parasitic infection, it is so easy to be infected by a parasitic infection. Also, to really prevent one from getting a parasitic infection, they would have to be extremely cautious on the food they are eating and the water they are drinking. It is more common in regions of tropical or subtropical to avoid getting infected. We can also get infected through our pets and the disparity in this is that its hard to keep up with everything to avoid getting infected with parasitic
Factions and Federalist Essay No. 10 The federalist papers were a series of 85 essays written to convince the citizens of New York to ratify the constitution. Federalist essay No.10, written by James Madison, discusses political factions and their effects. Madison’s definition of a faction is clearly stated in the essay.
This allows the politicians to select one representative from each district to represent the majority of the voters in that district. This can benefit a political party because it allows them to have more seats in the house. “Eliminating gerrymandering would not by itself dramatically increase the competitiveness of house and state….between the two major political parties” (Mann, Thomas
However this could create corruptions in in the congress because coattail effects are when a popular party leader attracts the voters for other candidates of the same party in an election. Incumbency are those elected officials who are running for new terms of office, they have an advantage in campaign financing. Incumbency helps them because people are already aware of them so they have a higher chance of getting elected. Then there is the Pork barrel legislation in which legislators obtains funds through legislation that favors their home district and Franking privilege which lets the candidates contact with the constituents through mails. This gives the candidates a way to contact with the people easily and win the election.
As government does more for its citizens, more of their citizens become affected by government. Growing frustration with political parties, they believe the extremes are too liberal and conservative. The newest and most effective ways of effecting the government is by joining a third party or interest
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.
According to Baldwin (2003) health care disparities are the differences in health and health care between population groups including race, socioeconomic status, age, location, gender, disability, and sexual orientation. Disparities limits the improvements of quality health care which could result in unnecessary health care expenses. Factors that are contributing to disparities within today’s society are lack of access to quality health care and the number of individuals who are uninsured. As the population continue to grow and become more diverse health care disparities will continue to increase.
While this system seemed to work while our government was first formed, it is now seen as unjust. While the System is flawed, it is not beyond change. Split state votes is the solution for the electoral college to develop the mindset of Americans that their vote does matter, and so minority and 3rd parties have more of a say and chance in an election than they currently do. There are several pros and cons of the system. Some
Corruption of Power “Being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are,” (Obama Michelle). Definition of corrupt, dishonest or illegal behavior, specifically by powerful people, such as government officials or police officers (Merriam-Webster). Many leaders are corrupt, but that doesn’t mean that power caused their corruption. They were probably like that before.
Divided government occurs when one political party controls the presidency and another controls one or both houses of Congress. The struggle between parties can create significant issues for the government, including the appointment of judges and high officials and the creation of effective problem-solving legislation. Divided government creates an issue for the president in making federal appointments. The president has the constitutional power to nominate ambassadors, judges, and high officials, but these nominees are subject to Senate confirmation. When the government is divided the president and the Senate are of different political parties, this creates a problem in the appointment of these positions.