Why Voters Need to Look at the Rules for Electing Our Lawmakers
The 2008 election was supposed to be about change. And we got big change with our new president. Naturally, there have been detractors--mostly in the minority Republican Party--who don't like the change and are spewing all kinds of rhetorical hysteria to reach their goal: regaining power. 
I don't think readers come to Contention & Conscious to get the latest summary of crazy comments by right-wingers. But what I do want to say is that this white noise is meeting its purpose: It is distracting people from the important issues of the day.
Ask most Americans and they'll tell you they're tired of status quo politics. But so many of the demagogues crying foul are actually agents of the status quo themselves! They recognize the reins of power and are only bitter because they're not the ones holding them. They fan the flames of discontent hoping to ride negative sentiments back into power. Thus the cycle will be complete with business-as-usual.
My personal politics try to challenge this redundant dynamic. Instead of tearing things down for personal benefit, I want to build things up so the nation and world benefits. And to get even more unapologetically corny, I see myself as a traditionalist. I've said, Let's fix this broken democracy. Note: not tear it down, but fix it. We can make our institutions better, and bring governance closer to the engaged public. I have long been an advocate of election reform because I see the effort as an agent of real change that challenges the current rules and proposes new ones. But election reform isn't the only avenue gaining traction.
There are some who think that our population has outgrown the way we are represented in our nation's capital. Last week, in northern Mississippi, a lawsuit was filed that challenges the constitutionality of the way the U.S. House of Representatives is set up. The plaintiffs in the suit are arguing that the congressional districts in their home states, like a five-gallon bucket of soda pop, have become super-sized. They're proposing adding seats to the House as a remedy--this way our representation would come in a more manageable serving. It would be kind of like adding teachers to improve the teacher-student ratio in classrooms.
Some congressional districts have gotten so bloated that there are disparities among districts. For example, with 495,000 people, Wyoming has a single House seat. By comparison, Montana's single seat represents 905,000 constituents. The suit argues that there are 1.83 persons-per-district in Montana for every 1 person-per-district in Wyoming. They're saying this is violating the constitutional standard of one person, one vote. Each member of Congress should represent roughly the same amount of people, but the Montana/Wyoming dichotomy shows that this is not the case. The suit provides other examples of disparity. (If you want to know more about how Congress allocates seats, check out my Weekly column on decennial redistricting.)
Meanwhile, special-interest groups have set up shop in our capital so they can constantly monitor any laws or rules that might impact them. While a House member and staff may know who these players are, it's impossible to get to know 495,000 people, let alone 905,000. It could be said that the distance has grown between the Representative and the Citizen. And it's the special interests that have benefited.
This brings us back to the ranting status quo lunatics. They offer ridiculous comparisons of Obama to hard-line Communists, but they ignore the business-as-usual political money carousel that rings the national legislature. You want real change? Then look at the rules for electing our lawmakers.
It's 2009 and we need to start looking at our governance according to the realities of the 21st century. It's been a long time since we had any real institutional change. While I'm intrigued with the idea of increasing House members, or even instituting a Virtual House, at this point the appeal to me is that people are thinking outside the box. It's way more compelling than the garbage the media tries to pass off as political discourse.
32 comment(s)
James Early says:
I got news for you. Our entire culture, including music for the masses, is "white noise".
Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 22 2009 @ 12:29PM
Blake says:
Quote: "James Early says: I got news for you. Our entire culture, including music for the masses, is "white noise"."
Which was one of the main points of this post. How do you ever expect to change anything or indeed make any kind of progress if all you do is summarise generic quotes and viewpoints? What did you do, get to "white noise" and then just disregard the rest of this post?
Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 22 2009 @ 1:17PM
Dan Springhorn says:
So, if a person doesn't support Obama, then they're either Right-Wingers, or demagogues, or lunatics, right?
Maybe, just maybe, if you really want to see some change, you should start by realizing that you've been shucked.
Obama is a Chicago politician writ large. Literally. That's worse than a hard-line communist, that's someone who doesn't evne recognize your right to exist.
If change is what is wanted, and you, or anyone else, truly wants to see a better nation, then you'd best all realize that as long as you stand in a corner calling everyone but your friends names, all you are doing is adding to the polarization.
Here's a wild idea.
Nothing wrong with the mechanics of our governance, the problem lies in the parties governing. BOTH OF THEM. WE need to clean house and get rid of all of them, Republicrats and Demicans, and get some peo-ple in Washington that will actually work for the interests of our nation, not a particular sub-demographic.
Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 22 2009 @ 2:07PM
Kahlid says:
The fact remains, the party in power is the establishment and the party taiming to replace them is the revolution.
Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 22 2009 @ 2:38PM
John C says:
To me this editorial views like a Julienne salad.
Ham is the the garbage the media tries to pass off as political discourse.
turkey is unapologetically corny, I see myself as a traditionalist.
cheese in julienne strips is it would be kind of like adding teachers to improve the teacher-student ratio in classrooms.
Lettuce, 2 or 3 varieties is with 495,000 people, Wyoming has a single House seat. By comparison, Montana's single seat represents 905,000 constituents.
Sliced boiled eggs is this white noise is meeting its purpose: It is distracting people from the important issues of the day.
julienned carrots are that it could be said that the distance has grown between the Representative and the Citizen. And it's the special interests that have benefited.
chopped onion are that the last time Dr. Marsha Loyer called me she left on my answering machine that they were doing fine and maintaining the status quo.
and radishes are we got big change with our new president.
After digesting this guess we're supposed to devise a strategy to revitalize our voting procedures. I'm in.
Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 22 2009 @ 7:30PM
nikky roxxx says:
west side
Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 22 2009 @ 7:31PM
Anonymous says:
The Money Will Roll Right In
Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 22 2009 @ 7:48PM
Gary Frey says:
I completely agree, what we need is more discussions like this. Even if I don't necessarily agree with adding more Representatives, it would be a great starting point for our newscasters to get involved in the democracy we live in.
This is somewhat off point i guess but I myself live in Cincinnati,Ohio and there is an Issue: Issue 9 (which seeks to shoot down an initiative to build a street car that's modeled after the one in Portland). All of the discussion that should be occurring through our local media outlets,aside from a few gems, is being pushed aside for status quo material. I haven't heard such proposals for revitalizing our city from the opponents of the street car.
And to quote Mark Twain:
"When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times." Real Political discourse is what we all need, especially Cincinnati because were still behind the times!
Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 22 2009 @ 11:48PM
Brad Cox says:
I think this says it: "It could be said that the distance has grown between the Representative and the Citizen."
As for James, I don't agree with that statement. While politics may appear to be voiced by 'white noise' opinion-spewing - music, is an even split, at this point.
There's just a lot of noise going on - and there has been, for a very long time. 'Noise' shouldn't always be deemed as bad, either - at its core, it keeps people informed, whether rediculous or not.
Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 3:57AM
joe blow says:
Couldnt help but notice the "west side" comment thrown in the middle of that. LOL!
Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 8:23AM
Keith says:
Krist,
I would agree with you, that the ideals of the American people are that if it doesn't work the way they want it too; well just throw it out and start over. This is the American nature but I must agree that it isn't a throw away institution, it is mechanical and needs some tinkering, so we should just fix it. Special interest has changed the Americans view away from our founding foundation and has set the Americans eyes on petty issues that just make our system more complex. I don't believe that our system can't ignore the many issues that should be addressed but what makes our country what it is through our policy is very important. Our simple laws as written in our Constitution have been meddled with through state laws that have been made one upon another for our protection in one way or another.
To make a long story short I agree that our foundation can only be made stronger if more people would pay attention to it. History could change drastically for the betterment of all.
Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 9:10AM
Anthony says:
We get it Krist. You voted for Clinton, Gore, Kerry and Obama.
I have to agree with Dan Springhorn.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Two different wings of the same bird of prey.
All those clichés are valid.
We had two presidential candidates in the 2008 election from the stinking Democrat and filthy Republican parties that offered real change; Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul.
The idea that Obama was the peace candidate is laughable. Where oh where is the anti-war left now that their candidate is in power, expanding these ridiculous wars? All I hear is the faint sound of crickets (and Cindy Sheehan, God bless her). Why isn't the left having a fit over the fact that Obama is expanding draconian Bush policy?
Throw the health reform bone and watch the dogs fight over it. Continuing the great tradition of divide and conquer in Washington.
Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 12:44PM
Krist Novoselic says:
Anthony and Dan Springhorn,
Thanks for visiting the blog and commenting. I think we may agree on things more than you think.
Yes, I'll usually vote Democratic party but In 1996 I voted John Hagelin for president. I've also voted independent and Republican in local / state races.
Is it me or was this the summer of inflamed rhetoric coming from the political right?
And I'll grant you this my friends, leftist rhetoric can also be reactionary.
Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 2:59PM
Gary says:
Can you say "Tea Party"...im all for protests, but when you get a bunch of people in suits that took theyre lunch break to protest stimulus package money in an area they never spend time (downtown cincinnati for example) and an area that needs the money, it gets very irritating.
Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 24 2009 @ 10:43AM
Joe in Atlanta says:
I am not sure that the “right wingers” are making all the crazy commentary lately, (RE: Jimmy Carter), but if you look at Americans these days, we have a real problem with perception.
With all the media outlets available on cable, talk radio, web, not to mention the PAC’s, American’s are able to pick and choose the news to fit their personal opinion. There is no unbiased debate, only reinforcement of what we assume or want to think is correct. Look at the success of Fox News or MSNBC. There is little doubt that the majority of their programming is opinion based. What is worse is that much of the mainstream media seems to be passing off the same biased reporting as journalism. If you are left or right, you can have your opinions and everyone can be correct, if we tune to the proper channel.
When there is debate any kind attempted, here come the bombshell words from the other side: racist, socialist, elitist, etc. Most of this originates from our elected officials. Funny isn’t it, inflamed rhetoric always seems to come from the opposing viewpoint.
Election reform? Something we can all agree on... because we all think it will further our political view...
Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 24 2009 @ 7:58PM
Gary Frey says:
Krist,
After reading your article on Ranked Choice Voting and decennial redistricting RCV seems like the most rational solution.
The idea of implementing a system where population increases are accounted for and population decreases are offset eases my anxiety about living in a country like ours. No one region or party should have a monopoly, and with the decreasing and increasing midwestern and southern populations respectively, this couldn't be more relevant.
Posted On: Friday, Sep. 25 2009 @ 12:07AM
Gary Frey says:
Krist,
After reading your article on Ranked Choice Voting and decennial redistricting RCV seems like the most rational solution.
The idea of implementing a system where population increases are accounted for and population decreases are offset eases my anxiety about living in a country like ours. No one region or party should have a monopoly, and with the decreasing and increasing midwestern and southern populations respectively, this couldn't be more relevant.
Posted On: Friday, Sep. 25 2009 @ 12:09AM
Chris says:
This is probably your most interesting post yet. Usually i sort of read over your articles and take bits and pieces from it, but i too have long questioned the idea of, for example, the amount of representatives-per-population idea.
It just doesn't seem logical to me! Granted, the system maybe would have worked a couple of hundred years ago, but the general concept has lost it's roots. And i'm glad to know that someone out there is challenging the idea. I mean, how can 2 states, one with half a million citizens, and one with one million citizens, be represented by the same number of people? (Let alone the fact that that number is ONE.)
Anyways, I hope maybe this lawsuit you speak of will gain some momentum, or at least not be the final case in what seems, to me, to be an injustice to our constitutional rights.
If nothing else, i like the point of 'fixing' problems from the inside for the benefit of a nation, rather than 'tearing them down' for the benefit of feeling self-gratified.
I mean, 'Punk is dead', so why keep the 'Punk' attitude, anyways?
Posted On: Friday, Sep. 25 2009 @ 8:15AM
Krist Novoselic says:
Joe In Atlanta hits the nail on the head regarding people seeking media that "speaks to them".
And as far as drawing political boundaries, most congressional districts are "safe seats" because like minded people tend to live around each other. They call this social sorting. But if a committee sorts the voters into districts - why bother to even have an election? I guess only to ratify the decision of the committee.
Indeed, election reform will further my political view, namely that competition fosters the marketplace of ideas and that's good for everyone!!!
Posted On: Friday, Sep. 25 2009 @ 9:06AM
David Olson says:
Krist suggests increasing the size of the House. At 646K citizens/representative (average) it doesn't represent us well. But at 435 members it is already a bit too large to function well. I suggest a more fundamental question: Why should the states be united anymore? If we broke up we in Washington state could do what WE want, without having anything whatever to do with any Joe Wilson of South Carolina, or GW Bush of Texas or Dick Cheney of -what state was that? Our representatives would represent tens of thousands, not half-a-million people, and all of us would be more nearly on the same policy page than we see right now in a big diverse nation of 300 million. It sounds like a better plan to me.
Posted On: Saturday, Sep. 26 2009 @ 1:01PM
John C says:
David Olson,
I don't think every State could become independent. States shedding their histories and their borders, not strengthening them. For example, in a city in northwest Indiana, half of the licence plates you see on the road are from Illinois. The plates are cheaper there but gas and cigs are here so that's how it goes.
My friend writer Tom Justice drew for me a map of a futuristic America. I believe that it had some northern States becoming part of Canada, States including Texas belonging to Mexico, and then remaining states becoming independent.
Posted On: Saturday, Sep. 26 2009 @ 2:43PM
Mary says:
We must also be careful not to become apathetic towards decisions made by our lawmakers. All politicians must be monitored by the voters whether or not you voted for them. The problem with a popular president is that it is easy to assume that every decision he makes coincides with your political beliefs.
All politicians are capable of making bad decisions despite what their intentions are or what party they belong to. Also, most politicians are capable of making at least a few good decisions whether or not they belong to your party of preference. Bitterness from the Republican Party distracts from the positive actions of the Obama administration. However, Democrats add to the problem by failing to adequately question legislation drafted by members of their party.
I fear that Washington DC has become more partisan than ever and I blame both sides. Good ideas are shot down based on political affiliation while bad and/or poorly written legislation is supported. When will we move away from partisan politics? As a moderate I am never happy and I'm not alone. I think most Americans would prefer bipartisan negotiation as well as a move towards honest evaluation of what comes through Congress...regardless of who wrote the bill.
Posted On: Saturday, Sep. 26 2009 @ 11:48PM
Glen Beck says:
Krist, I'm a big fan. I have been following you for a long time now. I couldn't agree with you more on how we need to stop blamming the other side! It is our children's future. Keep on strumming
Posted On: Sunday, Sep. 27 2009 @ 6:44AM
David Olson says:
Re. Krist Novoselic's post of Friday Sept. 25th, 9:06 am, about "as far as drawing political boundaries, most congressional districts are "safe seats"".
"Social sorting" does it, with a lot of help from the politicians choosing their voters through gerrymandering. I once lived in a squiggle of a district. Two districts over Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson had one of the safest districts, and one of the lowest voter turnouts. A columnist noted that, for lack of turnout, presumably for historic lack of any meaningful contest, it cost the Democrat's governor candidate the election.
The recently adopted Washington top-two primary is a step in the right direction. More states should do that. And I repeat my earlier assertion that we would be better off if more, or all, of the politics and policies that matter to us were done in the state of Washington, in Olympia, rather than three thousand miles away in the other Washington.
Posted On: Sunday, Sep. 27 2009 @ 10:18AM
krist Novoselic says:
David- Washington's top-two primary does NOTHING about gerrymandering. Thanks for reading my blog!!
Glen - Nice to catch up during your visit to Mt. Vernon. And like I told you, when you start your 2012 presidential bid, call me and I'll help however I can. And it was flattering that you wanted me to be your press secretary, however I have my hands full trying to save the world myself with this SW column and must graciously turn down your wonderful offer.
Posted On: Sunday, Sep. 27 2009 @ 11:04AM
Jared says:
Tell me you dont miss this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58pnEXU74rQ
Posted On: Sunday, Sep. 27 2009 @ 3:56PM
Jared says:
Saw the meat puppets with dead confederate friday before last at the el rey. I cant believe how tight those bros are. I could have had a heart attack and not said a damn word. Thats something.
Posted On: Monday, Sep. 28 2009 @ 12:09AM
Ed Whitson says:
Go OKC Potatoes!!!
Posted On: Monday, Sep. 28 2009 @ 12:40PM
John says:
Nice photo of the First Lady on the cover of August issue of EBONY as well. EBONY named her of 25 ladies who have the IT factor going- women who make us sit up and take notice.
Posted On: Monday, Sep. 28 2009 @ 6:52PM
John says:
Tonight on Jay Leno Chris Matthews said the one person he wouldn't let interview him was Glen Beck... hmm, maybe this is why:
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/09/26/glenn-beck-vs-chris-matthews-sean-hannity-vs-rachel-maddow-tv-ratings-through-thursday-september-24/28522
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 1 2009 @ 8:09PM
Larry Jones says:
"who don't like the change and are spewing all kinds of rhetorical hysteria to reach their goal: regaining power."
Duh. People watched the masters from 2000-2008. They took good notes.
Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 5 2009 @ 7:06PM
Anonymous says:
To "Glen Beck:" You spelled Glenn Beck incorrectly. Nice try though. There are two "n's" in his spelling of Glenn.
Posted On: Wednesday, Dec. 2 2009 @ 10:52PM