Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Party Polarization Decreasing?

In the most recent elections, many New York legislators focused on change and fair elections in their platforms. One of the main aspects they focused on was the issue of drawing district boundaries. In the past, it was politicians who drew these legislative boundaries, which has been contributing to the increasing polarization of the parties. Indeed, the way in which politicians draw these boundaries makes it so that “House districts get redder and redder or bluer and bluer”. Ultimately, this means that in these polarized districts, there is no chance for the opposing candidates, or even more moderate, same-party candidates. Now, however, according to a Times Union article, some New York legislatures have proposed that instead of politicians choosing the boundaries, it should be up to independent commissions to decide.

This idea of having members outside Congress designate the boundaries of legislative districts is not novel. Indeed, according to an article from The San Diego Union-Tribune, other states, like California, have reconsidered how to draw district boundaries as well. Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, supported change in this arena, declaring that it would “take [power] away [from the politicians] and give it back to the people”. While it’s true that changing the way legislative districts are drawn could shift power from politicians to the public, it could have other major effects as well. If the current method by which district boundaries are drawn is a contributing factor to party polarization, what effect could change have on the parties? Would it truly even the playing field? An unbiased, independent commission would allow the possibility for more diversity in terms of the constituency of the districts. Indeed, changing the way these boundaries are drawn so that its not just all the liberals in one district, and all the conservatives in another, but a mixture, could have a large effect on the party status of the district. If these two extremes, liberal and conservative were more evenly dispersed within districts, it could allow moderate politicians, and even opposing party members, a greater chance, decreasing party polarization.

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