Politicians Can Pick
Their Voters, Thanks to the Supreme Court
Interesting and disturbing:
Christopher Ingraham notes:
“We tend to think that voters choose their
representatives, making Congress a reflection of the will of the people. But,
in reality, much of the makeup of the House is a product of politicians
choosing their voters”
A Summer School for Mathematicians Fed Up with
Gerrymandering by Dawn Chan
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-summer-school-for-mathematicians-fed-up-with-gerrymandering
Chan notes:
Chan notes:
“Gerrymandering has been a thorn in the side of the
U.S. political system since before the very first Congress was elected. The
Times editorial board recently called the issue “as old as it is corrosive to a
representative democracy,” and last year, in a book titled “Ratf**ked,” the
journalist David Daley wrote that “Democrats and Republicans alike have the
sense that something in our politics is broken, that Congress is not responsive
to the will of the people.” Although Americans of all political persuasions are
able to agree on the problem, solutions, for now, are in short supply. In part,
this is because even the most equitable districts are drawn according to
subjective factors. A strangely shaped one might be a symptom of political
bias, or it might merely reflect the local geography. Many states, moreover,
explicitly call on their mapmakers to consider the needs of so-called
communities of interest.”
How Computers Turned Gerrymandering into a Science
Tyranny of the Minority