Unless you're one of the several thousand incumbent politicians who support job retention without actually having to accomplish anything, you realize that the system is broken. If you don't yet understand the patently unethical political practice known as gerrymandering, click here: http://markostake.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-gerrymandering-part-1.html.
So, for the rest of us, the system is in desperate need of change. But how best to accomplish that?
In California, 2 ballot measures up for vote in less than a month, deal with this directly, Propositions 20 and 27.
Propostion 20 does 2 important things: (1) Adds the mandate of re-drawing congressional district boundaries to the commission created by Proposition 11 in 2008 and (2) would define a "community of interest" as "a contiguous population which shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation." These shared interests could be such things as urban areas, industrial areas or agricultural areas.
Proposition 27, if approved, would repeal California Proposition 11, which authorized the creation of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. It would also modify the provision in California law that says that proposed congressional districts can't be subjected to a veto referendum.
Thus, supporters of reform would be advised to vote YES on 20 and NO on 27. If you're one of the 5000 or so incumbents, well then vote the opposite way.
The most commonly advocated electoral reform proposal targeted at gerrymandering is to change the redistricting process. Under these proposals, an independent and presumably objective commission is created specifically for redistricting, rather than having the legislature do it. This is the system used in the United Kingdom, where the independent Boundary Commissions determine the boundaries for constituencies in the House of Commons and regional legislatures, subject to ratification by the body in question (almost always granted without debate). A similar situation exists in Australia where the independant Australian Electoral Commission, and its state based counterparts, determines electoral boundaries for federal, state and local durisdictions.
The problem with a commission is that it is dependent on the individuals selected. Many "independent" commission are about as objective as the O.J. Simpson jury. The appointments are politically based to engineer a certain outcome. Thus, unless the selection process is achieved without bias, an independent commission can lead to the exact same result.
Another approach, and one that appeals to a numbers junkie like me, would be to employ some sort of mathematical formula or other pre-determined methodology. An approach advocated by a group called RangeVoting.org uses a mathematical algorithm. It is described here: http://rangevoting.org/GerryExamples.html. The site also contains maps of current districts to demostrate the incredible shapes that the current system creates. Check out the one that looks like a Halloween mask for a real horror show.
There are a myriad of other objective and unbiased means to drawing districts. In all likelihood, they all have certain benefits and drawbacks, but the differences are, in the grand scale of things, immaterial. The most important thing is consistency. Any approach that is unbiased and consistency applied, will, by definition, end the impact of gerrymandering.
The definitive documentary on Gerrymandering, produced by Bill Mundell, is newly released for theatrical showing. The website for this film can be accessed by clicking here: http://www.gerrymanderingmovie.com/. The commercial can be accessed by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX50l9G_QZU.
If you want any of your votes to EVER count, perhaps the most important vote will be the ones you cast on Propositions 20 and 27. If you want to see the bums get thrown out, here's the way to do it.
Marko's Take
Showing posts with label Bill Mundell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Mundell. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
What Is Gerrymandering? (Part 1)
Politicians are good at very little that is of use to the American people, but they excel at providing themselves with job security. It's quite amazing if you think about it for a moment. They routinely have approval ratings below Hitler and Mussolini, yet somehow they get themselves re-elected by wide margins.
Where do I sign up for that? Do a job so poor that any employer in the private sector would fire you without severance, yet, not only do you manage to keep your job, vote yourself a pay raise and even provide lavish benefits that no one in the private sector enjoys.
I'll tell you how they get that treatment. They CREATE it! It's an unethical practice known as "gerrymandering", which is the re-drawing of congressional districts in such a fashion as to virtually ensure you'll get re-elected. With advanced polling and census data, they can literally pinpoint friendly voters block by block and even house by house. The demographic data they have includes key factors such as gender, age, race, party and socio-economic status. Each of these groups have tendencies to lean either heavily or slightly to certain parties or candidates.
Knowing that information, politicians can literally go house by house to include as high a proportion of voters likely to side with them. As a result, a gerrymandered district can look like modern art, a chain saw, a hammer, a wrench or even a bowl of chocolate souffle!
What they virtually NEVER look like are grids, or any other symmetrical and logical shape for dividing an area into parts. Imagine if city streets were gerrymandered, instead of being rectangular. And, if the city planners who designed them kept their jobs! Of course, with a gerrymandered street grids, no one could ever find a polling place, but that's another story.
What if you're in a district with lots of alien voters, and your adjacent representatives need to encroach on your territory? Easy! Gerrymandering is effective because of the "wasted vote" effect. The strategy here is to stuff opposition voters into 1 district and give the other party 1 seat and 1 big win. Let's say you have 10 districts in which the voting is all close. Put as many of your other party's voters into 1 district, thereby tipping the odds more in your favor for the other 9!
As a result of this weighting, voter turnout is lowered because of the perceived certainty of incumbent re-election, thereby disenfranchising everyone!
The effect of gerrymandering for incumbents is particularly advantageous, as incumbents are far more likely to be re-elected under conditions of gerrymandering. For example, in 2002, according to political scientists Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann, only 4 challengers were able to defeat incumbent members of the US Congress, the lowest number in modern American history. Incumbents are likely to be of the majority party orchestrating a gerrymander, and incumbents are usually easily renominated in subsequent elections, including incumbents among the minority.
Gerrymandering also has significant effects on the quality of constituent representation. Because gerrymandering is designed to increase the number of wasted votes among the electorate, the relative representation of particular groups, especially minorities, can be drastically altered from their actual share of the voting population. This effect can significantly prevent a gerrymandered system from achieving proportional and descriptive representation, as the winners of elections are increasingly determined by who is drawing the districts rather than the preferences of the voters.
On the other side of the coin, gerrymandering may be advocated to improve representation within the legislature among groups which make up a relatively small portion of the voter base. By promoting the representation of groups which support the party in power, the incumbent party is able to gain an even stronger death grip on the rule-making bodies.
Reaching for your "barf bag", yet? Gerrymandering has even come to prisons! This occurs when inmates are counted as residents of a particular district. This can be particulary effective in rural areas with a large prison population.
California has two propositions that deal with Gerrymandering, Props 20 and 27. These are key ballots measures for restoring our democracy.
In tomorrow's blog, we will attack the Gerrymandering issue by examing why one should care and the types of reforms being proposed to end this very un-democratic practice.
If you're interested in learning more about this issue, a definitive documentary called "Gerrymandering", produced by Bill Mundell is preparing for theatrical release. The website for the film can be accessed by clicking here: http://www.gerrymanderingmovie.com/. A new trailer for the movie can be accessed by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kurAB5ridko.
Marko's Take
Where do I sign up for that? Do a job so poor that any employer in the private sector would fire you without severance, yet, not only do you manage to keep your job, vote yourself a pay raise and even provide lavish benefits that no one in the private sector enjoys.
I'll tell you how they get that treatment. They CREATE it! It's an unethical practice known as "gerrymandering", which is the re-drawing of congressional districts in such a fashion as to virtually ensure you'll get re-elected. With advanced polling and census data, they can literally pinpoint friendly voters block by block and even house by house. The demographic data they have includes key factors such as gender, age, race, party and socio-economic status. Each of these groups have tendencies to lean either heavily or slightly to certain parties or candidates.
Knowing that information, politicians can literally go house by house to include as high a proportion of voters likely to side with them. As a result, a gerrymandered district can look like modern art, a chain saw, a hammer, a wrench or even a bowl of chocolate souffle!
What they virtually NEVER look like are grids, or any other symmetrical and logical shape for dividing an area into parts. Imagine if city streets were gerrymandered, instead of being rectangular. And, if the city planners who designed them kept their jobs! Of course, with a gerrymandered street grids, no one could ever find a polling place, but that's another story.
What if you're in a district with lots of alien voters, and your adjacent representatives need to encroach on your territory? Easy! Gerrymandering is effective because of the "wasted vote" effect. The strategy here is to stuff opposition voters into 1 district and give the other party 1 seat and 1 big win. Let's say you have 10 districts in which the voting is all close. Put as many of your other party's voters into 1 district, thereby tipping the odds more in your favor for the other 9!
As a result of this weighting, voter turnout is lowered because of the perceived certainty of incumbent re-election, thereby disenfranchising everyone!
The effect of gerrymandering for incumbents is particularly advantageous, as incumbents are far more likely to be re-elected under conditions of gerrymandering. For example, in 2002, according to political scientists Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann, only 4 challengers were able to defeat incumbent members of the US Congress, the lowest number in modern American history. Incumbents are likely to be of the majority party orchestrating a gerrymander, and incumbents are usually easily renominated in subsequent elections, including incumbents among the minority.
Gerrymandering also has significant effects on the quality of constituent representation. Because gerrymandering is designed to increase the number of wasted votes among the electorate, the relative representation of particular groups, especially minorities, can be drastically altered from their actual share of the voting population. This effect can significantly prevent a gerrymandered system from achieving proportional and descriptive representation, as the winners of elections are increasingly determined by who is drawing the districts rather than the preferences of the voters.
On the other side of the coin, gerrymandering may be advocated to improve representation within the legislature among groups which make up a relatively small portion of the voter base. By promoting the representation of groups which support the party in power, the incumbent party is able to gain an even stronger death grip on the rule-making bodies.
Reaching for your "barf bag", yet? Gerrymandering has even come to prisons! This occurs when inmates are counted as residents of a particular district. This can be particulary effective in rural areas with a large prison population.
California has two propositions that deal with Gerrymandering, Props 20 and 27. These are key ballots measures for restoring our democracy.
In tomorrow's blog, we will attack the Gerrymandering issue by examing why one should care and the types of reforms being proposed to end this very un-democratic practice.
If you're interested in learning more about this issue, a definitive documentary called "Gerrymandering", produced by Bill Mundell is preparing for theatrical release. The website for the film can be accessed by clicking here: http://www.gerrymanderingmovie.com/. A new trailer for the movie can be accessed by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kurAB5ridko.
Marko's Take
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