In the start of this 3 part series, I did some interesting research back to about 1850 to find accounts about gerrymandering to discuss how it’s always been a problem, the odd problems it created as civil rights and big data come into the picture, and how the SCOTUS just decided to open the floodgates of reverse racism and partisan line drawing like never before. I suggest this is a further eroding democracy. Important to convey, this is one of many problems facing American and, by-in-large, contemporary liberal democracies but this is one of my areas where knowledge and concern intersect.
Parts 2 and 3 will continue with the rule of law and civil society.
I love this study so much. I show it to students who don’t believe it and we get into a discussion about how their perception of well being or freedom isn’t democracy. It usually ends up with them realizing they couldn’t point to a single instant their voice was represented in government at any level. They had, in effect, little to no agency on how representatives voted and how policy was made.
I’ve been in Texas for 11 years, and I gave up on voting. City Council? Whenever we vote progressive candidates in and they do something progressive, Abbott calls the Legislature into special session to make those laws illegal at the state level.
A good example is when the City of Austin implemented a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags, which given the production of said bags set the O&G lobby into overdrive.
County? Well, my vote doesn’t really count there, as Travis is overall aligned with my political views. State? Nah, gerrymandering split the city into I think now five districts at the federal level of unusual shape to dilute Austinites’ voices by including sparse areas 10s of miles away. Federal? We just redistricted. Senate could be interesting
There’s a reason I chose journalism. Voting harder clearly wasn’t going to help even in college.