4 ms·
I would also add gerrymandering the voting district boundaries to the list of things eroding confidence in the election process.
by glitcher 4y ago
I would also add gerrymandering the voting district boundaries to the list of things eroding confidence in the election process.
- seneca 4y agoThe term gerrymandering, let alone the practice, goes back to 1812. No one alive lived in a time that it didn't exist or has even met anyone who did. It's an unsavory practice, but it's not some new thing contributing to the decline of trust in institutions.
- comrh 4y agoThat's assuming the scope and effects of gerrymandering, and that the public understanding of gerrymandering, remained constant, which is a big assumption.
- asdff 4y agoYou exist right now at a time when gerrymandering doesn't exist, for certain offices. Governors race for example.
- ncmncm 4y agoAnd so you can see the difference it makes vs non-gerrymandered races. A big, big difference.
- NoGravitas 4y agoYes; It's not uncommon for the gubernatorial race to be highly competitive in a state where one party has a solid lock on the state legislature, for example.
- NoGravitas 4y agoThe last 20 or 30 years (i.e., the last 2 or 3 redistrictings) have seen the use of increasing amounts of data and computation to produce more accurately and more optimally gerrymandered districts. It's fundamentally the same practice that goes back to 1812, but the details actually matter in a quantitative sense.