Democracy, majority rule and the effect of gerrymandering

Following the American Rev- olution the compromise between small and large states that led to the adoption of the U.S. Constitution provided that each state got two senators. Today this means that half the Senate seats are held in 25 states with a population of just 50,430,127 — 16 percent of the U.S. population as of the 2010 census. (These 25 states have only 70 members sitting in the U.S. House of Representatives, also 16 percent.)

Currently, in the U.S. Senate it takes only 40 senators to block legislation. The population of the smallest 20 states that regularly vote Republican and send Republicans to the Senate is 50,379,111 (also 16 percent of the U.S. population). This means that just 16 percent of the U.S. population in those 20 small states can elect senators that forestall legislation that most Americans want. This Senate process is clearly anti-democratic and counterproductive to the interests of the vaste majority of the American people. Americans should demand that it end.

Democracy is a system of government Americans believe in and support. We even preach its merits around the world. But there’s a catch we ignore at our own peril: gerrymandering. Here’s how it works to spoil the essence of democracy.

Suppose one party controls the redistricting process in a state while having received a bare majority of the vote or even just a plurality and, also, that the electorate is about evenly split between parties (say Red and Blue). To illustrate using small, hypothetical numbers, suppose the state has 10 congressional districts and 10,000 voters (5,000 Red and 5,000 Blue and approximately 500 of each party in each of the 10 districts). Ideally, democratic principles would suggest the state should send five representatives to Congress from each party. Reapportionment by gerrymandering is accomplished by the “ruling” party putting just 320 of its voters in one district (thereby losing that district 32 percent to 68 percent) while putting 520 of its voters in each of the other 9 districts (winning 52 percent to 48 percent in each). In this way they send 9 of the 10 representatives to Congress from their party. In Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania (swing states) voters are almost evenly divided between the two major parties (each saw a majority vote for President Obama in 2008). Yet the congressional delegations are predominately Republican: 19 to 6 in Florida, 13 to 5 in Ohio and 12 to 7 in Pennsylvania. Both political parties have been guilty of gerrymandering. But gerrymandering is anti-democratic in its essence. It destroys political comity and reasonable debate that informs citizens and helps keep the nation safe and prosperous.

Clearly these are not the only problems we face, but they are political shenanigans with readily available solutions. Citizens should demand remedies that could help stop our nation’s continuing downward slide.

John Wendle, Youngstown