GRSJ224/gerrymandering
Summary
Gerrymanding in the United States is used to give a political advantages for certain parties or groups by re-districting voting district boundaries. Since districts were split based on population size, these districts would be in contorted in odd shapes and sizes to ensure that there would be enough populus within the district to vote for the party or group redrawing the district[1]. Most of these districts would have the populous split into two or more large voting areas connected by thin strips of land to comply with rules gerrymandering rules that requires the district to be continuous[2].
The use of gerrymandering in the United States has been used by both Democracts and Republicans who unfairly target certain races, groups or blocs[3]. Blacks, latinos, LGBTQ and minority groups are most affected by gerrymandering when re-districting results in the encirclement of minority groups from a wealthier district or to split the minority vote into white majority district in order to dilute the minority vote[4].
History
The term Gerrymandering stems from the March 26, 1812 article in the Boston Gazette to highlight the redrawing of districts in the Massachusetts state election districts by Governor Elbrige Gerry to benefit him that looked like a salamander[5]. Thus, the term was coined by combining Governor Gerry’s name with salamander to become gerrymander.
Gerrymandering tactics in the United States:
Although there are a number of differing types of gerrymandering in the United States, there are two main types of gerrymandering: Packing and Cracking.
Cracking
The method of cracking is to diffuse voters who fall along similiar political identity, values or race into separate districts in order to weaken their influence. Voters who originally belong in the same voting district could be redrawn such that voters within the district could be split between two or more districts. This dramactially weakens voters from the original district and is commonly employed against minorities. When minorities within a voting district overtime encompass a larger percentage of the voting bloc, it would be split into other neighbouring district so as to eliminate their influence, a tactic that was employed among blacks, lations and other visible minorities. It would result in mixing miniorities with white majority populations and thus reduce their influence on election results. However, cracking also occurs along political lines. The most visible example of this is the use of cracking by Democrats in the state of Maryland where the district lines were drawn such that the rural voters who generally vote Republican and align with Republican values were split up and conjoined with urban districts where the majority tend to align with Democrats[6]. Although Republicans won 37% of the votes in Maryland, they only had 1 out of 8 U.S. House seats in the 2016 election[6].
Packing
The method of packing is to concentrate voters that align on along simliar values, political identity or race together in the same voting district to lessen the impact of these voters in neighbouring districts. This would often result in oddly drawn district to enclose the same voter type and would often have a huge majority in the packed district. This method if commonly employed by both Republicans and Democrats[7]. In more rural states to concentrate urban voters –since urban voters identify as more Democrat than Republican– into one or two districts to minimze urban voters influence on neighbouring district within the state who have a more rural populus. In states where the population is more urban –especially along the coast– Democrats would pack rural voters into a few districts so as to concentrate the urban democrat leaning vote. This has the added effect of suppressing the non-majority voters in the packed district since the district is overwhemly the majority. One of the most evident cases of packing until recently was from Republicans in North Carolina where prior to the 2017 re-districting of the 12th congressional district in North Carolina, the district was a long thin line that followed the Interstate 85 where the population was overwhemingly black and democrat[8]. Although Democrats overwhelmingly won the district by large margins, neighbouring districts were Republican since the black democrat leaning population were suppressed in neighbouring districts.
Effects of Gerrymandering
Voter Apathy
Gerrymandering reduces voter turnout because minority voters feel their votes will be wasted since they are vastly outnumbered by the majority[9]. However, this also reduces voter turnout for the majority because they feel that since they’re overwhelmingly in the majority, their vote is not necessary as they believe their party would win anyways as someone else would vote for them. This leads to voter apathy among minoritites and to a lesser extent in the majority population[9].
Tribalism
Gerrymandering produces tribalism along partisan and racial lines[10]. It divides individuals against the ‘majority’ versus minority or urban voters (Democrats) vs rural voters (Republicans). This creates conflicts among groups and isolate minority populations from voter participation.
Proposed Solutions
Proportional Representation
Although there are other voting systems such as STV (Single Transferable Voting), proportional representation is the best system in the United States because the government is primarily made out of two parties: Democrats or Republicans[11]. Through proportional representation there would not be a need for districts since the number of representatives of either party would be determined by the proportion of the vote received for the party.
Independent Commission
Currently, redistrict is done by politicans in 37 states and therefore whomever is the incumbents benefits from redistricting as they could redraw voting districts that align with their voting base by choosing their voters in upcoming elections[12]. An independent commission would redraw districts that match the communities versus choosing voters.
References
- ↑ Rafferty, John P. (2018). "What is Gerrymandering?". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- ↑ Ingraham, Christopher (March 1, 2015). "This is the best explanation of gerrymandering you will ever see". Washington Post. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- ↑ Brownfeld, Allan C. (August 29, 1992). "Racial Gerrymandering Balkanizes America". Human Events. 52: 15.
- ↑ Kennedy, Sheila Suess (October 19, 2015). [ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=110445377&site=ehost-live&scope=site. "Gerrymandering cuts us out of the process"] Check
|url=value (help). Indianapolis Business Journal. 36: 13 – via EBSCO. - ↑ Griffith, Elmer (1907). The Rise and Development of the Gerrymander. Chicago: Scott Foresman and Co. pp. 72–73.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ingraham, Christopher (March, 2018). "How Maryland Democrats pulled off their aggressive gerrymander". Washington Post. Retrieved August 1, 2018. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ Pierce, Olga (Nov. 2, 2011). "Redistricting, A Devil's Dictionary". ProPublica. Retrieved August 1, 2018. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ Blau, Max (October 19, 2016). "Drawing the line on the most gerrymandered district in America". The Guardian. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Beall, Jo (February 1, 2006). "Cultural Weapons: Traditions, Inventions and the Transition to Democratic Governance in Metropolitan Durban". Sage Journals: Urban Studies. 43: 457–473 – via Sage.
- ↑ Sullivan, Andrew (September 4, 2017). "Can Our Democracy Survive Tribalism?". New York – via ProQuest.
- ↑ Yglesias, Michael (November 6, 2017). "The real fix for gerrymandering is proportional representation". Vox. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- ↑ Editorial Board, Bloomberg Opinion (July 1, 2018). "How to Solve the Redistricting Mess". Bloomberg. Retrieved August 1, 2018.