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They look like ink stains and have funny names like “Donald Duck Kicks Goofy” or “The Praying Locust.” But these structures are not funny: they represent the contours of American electoral districts that have been designed according to party political criteria. As a result of this division, only one party in these districts has a chance of winning.
Historian Carol Anderson describes this as “manipulating the rules of the democratic game.” There is even a separate word for political abuse of constituencies. There is talk of “gerrymandering”. The namesake is former Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, who had approved a salamander-shaped constituency.
In recent weeks, the American public has looked primarily at the presidential and congressional elections. Results at the state level are just as important.
Because soon the electoral districts will have to be redefined. Every ten years there is a census in the United States, according to which the electoral districts for congressional elections in Washington and in individual states are reformed for a decade. It will be that moment again next year. And Republicans in particular benefit from this: In 20 of the 28 states in which parliaments are responsible for dividing constituencies, Republicans have a majority in both houses after the most recent election.
Electoral districts are being redesigned
That gives Donald Trump’s party huge opportunities. According to an analysis by the FiveThirtyEight website, Republicans can redefine 188 constituencies for the House of Representatives in Washington, or 43 percent of the seats. Democrats only have this option in 73 constituencies.
Gerrymandering is a practice that both parties have used in the past. But while resistance has grown among Democrats, Republicans have continued to refine the process. They act according to the motto of Karl Rove, former President George W. Bush’s chief strategist: Whoever controls the distribution of districts controls Congress.
After Barack Obama’s electoral victory in 2008, Republicans systematically invested millions of dollars in electoral campaigns in the states in order to determine the reorganization of electoral districts there in 2010. The plan became known as the “red map.” It was “the most strategic, largest-scale, and best-funded campaign to shape the constituency map from coast to coast,” writes publicist David Daley.
Six percentage points more for the majority
The plan worked. According to Cook Political Report calculations, Democrats since then have had to win six to seven percentage points more votes nationwide than Republicans to win a majority in the House of Representatives.
Legally speaking, all electoral districts must have approximately the same number of votes. The division must not put an ethnic group or minorities such as blacks at a clear disadvantage.
However, there are enough opportunities for the party in power to organize the division of electoral districts in its favor. So Pennsylvania Republicans grouped as many Democratic voters as possible in five of 18 constituencies. The rest had a Republican preponderance.
It worked: In the 2012 election, Pennsylvania Democrats got more votes than Republicans. However, they were able to send 13 deputies to Washington, their democratic competence only five. Modern computer programs have made it even easier to tailor constituencies for the benefit of a party.
Aside from the obvious injustice, gerrymandering has had a disastrous impact on political culture. Since this gives most MPs safe constituencies, there is no reason for them to target supporters of their political opponents.
The decisive elections are the party primaries. Those who are as intransigent as possible tend to prevail there. This has contributed to the radicalization of the Republicans and the polarization of the party system.
The Supreme Court is watching
Supporters of a fairer system cannot expect the help of the Supreme Court. The conservative majority of the country’s Supreme Court ruled last year that electoral districts motivated by political parties are outside the court’s jurisdiction, even in extreme cases.
The decision rests with the individual state courts, which have sometimes decided differently. And with the voters, who have ensured that in more and more states independent commissions are responsible for the allocation of constituencies. That doesn’t have to be an advantage for Democrats. In Virginia, where the party has a majority in Congress and the governor, a nonpartisan committee with citizen participation will determine electoral districts.
The Missouri Republicans chose a different path. Two years ago, 62 percent of voters approved an initiative that would have made the electoral division more independent of parties.
In this year’s election, the ruling Republicans voted on a resolution, which was supposed to reverse the reform in clauses. The voters chose him.
