Packing, Cracking, and Power (Part 7)
A 7-Part Series on The Tactics of Gerrymandering
In Part 6, we covered some very real, cautionary tales of electoral manipulation and their national impacts. Here, in Part 7, we will conclude this work with a review of the implications and future considerations of gerrymandering in the United States.
Let me state this plainly: There is no greater betrayal than when the tools of our democracy are turned against the very people they're meant to serve. I fear that aggressive partisan gerrymandering, a pernicious and sophisticated corruption of our electoral process honed by modern technology, will lead our great nation to a crisis of confidence, both at home and abroad.
The Supreme Court, in its Rucho v. Common Cause decision, largely abdicated its responsibility, effectively removing the federal courts from this fight. This leaves the preservation of fair elections in the hands of states and Congress, where the very forces of partisan manipulation often reside. While our laws still recognize the injustice of racial gerrymandering, the cunning use of partisan intent now serves as a veil to conceal these discriminatory practices. We see in the recent maneuvers in Texas a dangerous escalation - a mid-decade power grab that now threatens to unleash a "race to the bottom" among the states, each seeking to outdo the other in disenfranchising its citizens. The world watches, and the lessons from history are plain: nations that permit such electoral chicanery and boundary manipulation inevitably find themselves on a path toward democratic decay, political instability, and internal conflict.
The Implications for American Democracy
Partisan gerrymandering is not merely a political tactic, but a corrosive force that threatens to dissolve the bonds of our republic. As this practice pushes us toward greater internal strife, it will inevitably undermine our nation's moral authority on the global stage. How can we speak of democracy to the world when our system is seen as rigged and unrepresentative? Our internal division and lack of trust make us far less resilient to the external pressures that would see us weakened and fractured. In fact, the consequences of this manipulation are already here:
Heightened Political Polarization: This strategy of carving out political territories creates fortresses of partisanship, where the will of the people is subverted by the whims of party bosses. In these so-called “safe districts,” competition withers, and our representatives feel no need to seek common ground or appeal to moderate sensibilities. Instead, they are rewarded for catering to the most extreme voices, making consensus a rarity and bipartisan compromise an act of political courage rather than common sense.
Diminished Accountability to the People: When politicians are guaranteed re-election by the very lines they have drawn, their accountability to the full spectrum of their constituents vanishes. The people's voice becomes secondary to party loyalty, and the concerns of those who do not toe the ideological line are disregarded. This is a profound betrayal of the public trust, as it allows our representatives to serve a political machine rather than the citizens who elected them.
Erosion of Trust in Our Institutions: At its core, democracy is built on the simple, powerful idea that voters choose their leaders. But when voters believe, with ample evidence, that the reverse is true - that politicians pick their voters - it poisons the well of our civic life. This fundamental perversion breeds a cynicism that disengages our citizens, weakens their participation, and ultimately threatens to extinguish the flame of our republic.
Beyond these consequences, the international cautionary tales we have observed make another truth abundantly clear: the health of a nation's democracy is not a fixed state, but a delicate and ever-changing balance. While some may dismiss partisan gerrymandering as merely a tactical maneuver, perhaps less jarring than outright coups or electoral violence, again, I warn you, its relentless persistence and escalating audacity are just as perilous. They slowly but surely corrode the very pillars of our democratic institutions and, more tragically still, diminish the public's essential faith in the integrity of our governance. This insidious undermining creates fertile ground, ripe for far more severe forms of political instability to take root and flourish.
Our nation, with its current aggressive and brazen partisan gerrymandering, must recognize its place within this broader and deeply troubling international trend. How can we possibly stand as a beacon of liberty and a testament to democracy on the global stage? It would be a grave error to believe that our nation's electoral health is a concern only for those within our borders, and it has profound consequences for our standing among the nations of the world. I repeat, when our electoral processes are perceived as deeply flawed and manipulated, our moral authority is fundamentally compromised. It hands a ready excuse to autocratic regimes to dismiss the very ideals of the democracy we champion.
The stark truth is that the integrity of our elections is not merely a technicality; it is the very foundation of our standing in the world. To mend this, we must pursue a comprehensive and decisive approach, be it through congressional action, robust state-level reforms, or a renewed and vigorous judicial role, to ensure that the voice of every citizen is heard equally in our democratic process. My fellow Americans, the eleventh hour approaches; we must awaken to this danger and fight like hell to safeguard the soul of our republic before it is truly too late.