All Politics Is Local, But Are The Locals Political?

Professor Bainbridge gets it exactly right.

(Nothing more from me today, and the promised analysis of the Abu Ghraib RICO case will have to wait; this thing called "work" is getting in the way.)

Comments

[Slartibartfast]

Probably any sort of geographic district-building exercise is going to be subject to manipulation, particularly if the body making the districts is the body who's being elected.

So, why not just do it by alphabetical order (1st district is A-Cra, 2nd is Crb-Eg, f'rinstance)? Or some other method that doesn't rely on locale, racial population density, etc?

But that would be nigh-on impossible, because the same folks that would have to change the methodology are the ones benefitting from the current way of doing things.

[fdl]

would a national law mandating non-partisan districting even be constitutional? no time to check this morning.

putting aside the legal issue, the political impossibility of getting such a law through congress means that it can only be done through referendum.

it'd be nice if here in sunny Cal a coalition of good govt groups would get together to get the signature-gatherers out. i'd sign that referendum in a heart-beat. [2 actually, since i sign slowly and i haven't been working out enuf.]

Francis