4 ms·

Short of a complete reboot of both federal and state governments it is unclear how anything meaningful can be accomplished in this space. Understand this is pol

Short of a complete reboot of both federal and state governments it is unclear how anything meaningful can be accomplished in this space. Understand this is politicians doing their job by promoting legislation their constituents support. The issue here being corporate and special interest groups pay for politicians to run for office, making them the constituency that is served.

patmorgan23 3y ago
Fixing the electoral commission to allow for better influence from the public could be helpful. Independent redistricting commissions, banning political Gerrymandering/requiring competitive districts, publicly financed political campaigns, and rank choice voting would all have positive impacts on who gets selected and the ability of a constituency to replace them when they don't vote in their interest.
- forgetfreeman 3y ago
  Sure there's several roadmaps to get back to something approximating representative government but they all have to get through legislative bodies that have been well and truly captured by corporate interests and oligarchs. The issue isn't that we don't know what representative government looks like, it's that we don't have one and there are no clear incentives for elected officials to make supplying one a priority.
- anamax 3y ago
  > Independent redistricting commissions Define "independent". I note that California has an "Independent redistricting commission" and it gerrymandered the state more than the previous "by legislature" system. (Exactly how do you determine "independent" in a way that isn't easily gamed?) Of course, there's also the "define gerrymander" question. The typical answer is some variation on "minimize the perimeter of districts." That's measurable but why is it good? For example, it doesn't follow interest group lines
euroderf 3y ago
One word: perestroika.
- forgetfreeman 3y ago
  Now there's a word I haven't seen circulate in 35 years. Nice.

patmorgan23 3y ago

Fixing the electoral commission to allow for better influence from the public could be helpful. Independent redistricting commissions, banning political Gerrymandering/requiring competitive districts, publicly financed political campaigns, and rank choice voting would all have positive impacts on who gets selected and the ability of a constituency to replace them when they don't vote in their interest.

forgetfreeman 3y ago
Sure there's several roadmaps to get back to something approximating representative government but they all have to get through legislative bodies that have been well and truly captured by corporate interests and oligarchs. The issue isn't that we don't know what representative government looks like, it's that we don't have one and there are no clear incentives for elected officials to make supplying one a priority.
anamax 3y ago
> Independent redistricting commissions Define "independent". I note that California has an "Independent redistricting commission" and it gerrymandered the state more than the previous "by legislature" system. (Exactly how do you determine "independent" in a way that isn't easily gamed?) Of course, there's also the "define gerrymander" question. The typical answer is some variation on "minimize the perimeter of districts." That's measurable but why is it good? For example, it doesn't follow interest group lines

euroderf 3y ago

One word: perestroika.

forgetfreeman 3y ago
Now there's a word I haven't seen circulate in 35 years. Nice.