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.
Write Comment
Email to Friend
Print Article
