Do you have periodic "redistricting" to scramble the deck?

Post #384,928 by Another Scott 1/4/14 9:58:27 AM Reply	Do you have periodic "redistricting" to scramble the deck? Over here, national congressional districts are redrawn after the decennial census. Unfortunately, even though the districts end up having the same number of people, usually the incumbents (of both parties) determine where the boundaries are. What that means is there's usually bargaining to keep most of the minority incumbents in office (to gain their support), while the majority draws the lines so that they win a few more marginal districts to increase their majorities. Sometimes, though, the majority simply rams through the changes they want and the ones they think they can get away with (see Texas and DeLay). This means they have a larger majority in the House of Representatives than they "should", but it makes the majority fragile to demographic change or relatively small changes in views of the electorate. It makes "wave" elections more likely. So while over here the Republican's have a ~ 33 seat majority in the House (when they should be in the minority) - 17 needed to flip the majority, by 2016 or 2020 or 2024 they risk having a ~ 40+ seat minority and having a tough time getting it back. Especially if their attempts at disenfrancisement are slapped down... Non-partisan redistricting in California changed the game there - it would be nice if something similar became a universal system. I don't recall hearing about "redistricting" in the UK. Do similar things happen there, or is the population so stable that it's not needed? How are House districts done there? Thanks. Cheers, Scott.
Post #384,930 by pwhysall 1/4/14 10:25:44 AM Reply	Not really There are boundary changes, of course, but they're not a big deal - evolution, not revolution. We have a separate commission that looks after this process. Example of their work: http://consultation....proposed/eastern/
Post #384,945 by drook 1/4/14 2:52:57 PM Reply	That map is entirely too reasonable -- Drew
Post #384,962 by static 1/5/14 2:45:07 AM Reply	Same thing happens in Oz, too. Our electoral commission is also federal and independent. It also has teeth and can't be bought by politicians. I know it would be "un-American" to centralize all the election stuff like the UK and Aus does, but it sure would solve a lot of problems. :-/ Wade. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/
Post #384,937 by boxley 1/4/14 11:21:18 AM Reply	ya ever stop to think that it is anger at party in power that flips the seating? It was the anger against the democrats that put the repos in charge not redistricting Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 58 years. meep
Post #384,941 by Another Scott 1/4/14 12:00:14 PM Reply	It wasn't one thing. Lots of people were angry that the Republicans blew up the economy. Lots of people were angry that a black man had been elected president. Without the way that DeLay and his compatriots changed district lines in 2010, the damage would have been less. Cheers, Scott.

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