Gerrymandering: Watering Down Democracy

The biggest prize for each party in the 2008 election cycle is not presidency, a filibuster proof majority in the Senate or the right to appoint possibly two new Supreme Court Justices in the next four to eight years. That distinction belongs to the lowly state-level races that will decide who is in charge of redrawing Congressional districts come 2011. Whichever party manages to control the majority of state governments will have the power to shape the composition of Congress for the next decade.

Unfortunately, that comes at the expense of the American people.

An Oct. 23 CNN/Opinion Research poll found that 58 percent of Americans believe that most members of Congress should not be reelected. Despite this overwhelming “throw the bums out” sentiment, the majority of Congressional incumbents will win reelection, head back to their plush offices in the Capitol Building and generally ignore the wishes of their constituents only to do it all over again in another two years.

The question is: With such perpetual antipathy toward Congress, how do incumbents manage to pull of a miraculous 95 percent reelection rate?

The answer is gerrymandering - the practice by which Congressional districts are purposely manipulated in order for one party or another to maintain an electoral advantage.

The process dates back to 1812, when Mass. Governor Elbridge Gerry reapportioned a congressional district in what many believed to be the shape of a salamander in order to give the Democratic-Republican party the upper hand.

Since that time, gerrymandering has become a standard procedure in American politics, allowing those in power to retain it with minimal effort.

Today, redistricting occurs every 10 years, to coincide with the release of the most recent census statistics and is more precise than ever with the aid of computers, large and detailed voter information databases and redistricting software that allows one to organize a district literally house by house.

Gerrymandering is accomplished by two opposite but equally effective techniques: packing and cracking.

Packing is essentially concentrating like-minded voters in one district to diminish their influence in surrounding districts.

Cracking is widely dispersing like-minded voters, denying them a large enough voting bloc to dominate in one district.

The practice of gerrymandering has had a severely detrimental effect on American politics.

One of the most obvious obstructions is the fact that it makes Congressional elections much less competitive. A common term today in American politics is “safe seat,” meaning that a Congressperson should be reelected without much trouble. For example, in the 2002 midterm elections just four challengers were able to defeat incumbents. This makes Congress unresponsive to their constituents because, barring a major scandal, they are easily reelected in most cases.

A product of less competitive races is the fact that it discourages potentially good legislators from attempting to take office. Incumbents already have name recognition and a built-in advantage in fundraising in most cases. Those obstacles can be overcome. However, if the votes are simply not there, what is the point?

Because voters are given no real choice in Congressional races in gerrymandered districts, many voters opt to stay home, lowering turnout and watering down the democratic process. This is evidenced by the fact that countries like India, Russia and Estonia have higher turnout rates than American. The lower turnout means that our Congress is less representative of the true population.

Gerrymandered districts also make it nearly impossible to oust a non-effective Congressperson. Basically, the only way to do so is through a primary challenge. This has two separate but disastrous effects. First, it leads Congressional incumbents to look out for the interest of their party rather than their constituents to avoid a primary challenge. Second, the fact that primary challenges are the easiest way to defeat an incumbent leads to increased polarization in American politics. Primary challenges typically come from extreme partisans often at the expense of more moderate members of Congress (moderate Republicans and Democrats like former Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (Ind.-Conn.) are prime examples). This only serves to create more gridlock, partisan bickering and less compromise.

Currently, 36 state governments are in charge of redrawing Congressional lines. In those states, whichever party holds a majority will likely be able to control the levers of power for the next decade. In seven states independent bipartisan commissions are charged with redistricting (seven other states have only one congressional district).

In order to reinvigorate American democracy state governments should follow the lead of the seven states with independent commissions and give Americans back their government and their sacred right to vote in meaningful elections.

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