The “system” seemed so genius until something changed around the era of Reagan, Gingrich, Atwater, etc. I remember I used to marvel that the founders had created something that withstood time and trouble, and we were taught the genius of their “checks and balances”. But I think bad intentions by those in power weren’t given quite enough …
The “system” seemed so genius until something changed around the era of Reagan, Gingrich, Atwater, etc. I remember I used to marvel that the founders had created something that withstood time and trouble, and we were taught the genius of their “checks and balances”. But I think bad intentions by those in power weren’t given quite enough weight. So much of our mechanics of government are based on presumed honor and integrity. That’s been completely turned on it’s head; now more effort is applied to subvert the system than to win within it.
True; Big Data. I’m wondering if gerrymandering was pursued with such blatant scheming vigor, even without the benefit of computers. I suppose it’s hard to separate out.
A modern computer is exponentially faster than hand. To really Gerrymander well, you have to try thousands of slight variations to the shape of a district. By hand, that's a pain so you settle for good enough. Software can draw a new district very rapidly.
The “system” seemed so genius until something changed around the era of Reagan, Gingrich, Atwater, etc. I remember I used to marvel that the founders had created something that withstood time and trouble, and we were taught the genius of their “checks and balances”. But I think bad intentions by those in power weren’t given quite enough weight. So much of our mechanics of government are based on presumed honor and integrity. That’s been completely turned on it’s head; now more effort is applied to subvert the system than to win within it.
Gerrymandering was a lot more trouble before computers. The genie is out of the bottle!
True; Big Data. I’m wondering if gerrymandering was pursued with such blatant scheming vigor, even without the benefit of computers. I suppose it’s hard to separate out.
A modern computer is exponentially faster than hand. To really Gerrymander well, you have to try thousands of slight variations to the shape of a district. By hand, that's a pain so you settle for good enough. Software can draw a new district very rapidly.