Don't blame gerrymandering for our political paralysis

Lots of smart people will tell you rigged congressional districts are at the root of our dysfunctional government. Political scientist John Sides says they're wrong

President Obama's view on gerrymandering may be common, but it's also wrong, says John Sides.
(Image credit: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

The federal government is pretty unpopular. And a lot of very smart people blame the frustrating gridlock and hyper-partisan bickering on gerrymandering, or the rigging of congressional districts to create "a bunch of safe seats for each party, making representatives responsive only to their partisan base and unwilling to forge bipartisan compromises," says George Washington University political scientist John Sides at The Washington Post. Well, these people are wrong, argues Sides. "It would be nice if this view were true, because it would suggest a clear solution to our polarized politics: Draw more competitive districts." But our real problem is that members of Congress, to an unusual degree, vote with their party, regardless of what their constituents want. Here's an excerpt:

Members are more partisan than even voters in their party.... No matter whether Obama won 20 percent or 50 percent of their district, Republican representatives have voted similarly — that is, they have taken conservative positions on average. No matter whether Obama won 50 percent or 80 percent of their district, Democratic representatives have taken liberal positions, on average. Constituency hasn’t affected anyone's overall voting behavior that much....

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