Redistricting Part 2: Can We Ensure Fair Districts in Elections? | Politics with Paul #97

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Redistricting is fraught with partisanship and underhanded tactics…but can it be 100% fixed?

Making totally fair districts and preventing gerrymandering is an extraordinarily difficult goal for a lot of reasons we don’t realize…or want to admit. Today’s episode explores the issues with rules that currently govern the redistricting process today, how we as citizens make it easier to gerrymander, several proposals for how to make redistricting fairer, and whether it is truly possible to make the redistricting process impartial.

• ▶️YouTube: https://youtu.be/kVTSE7MRZ3I
• ▶️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7k0wZ9zNFkfiwKwMpRzAe6
• ▶️Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/redistricting-part-2-can-we-ensure-fair-districts-in/id1755201463?i=1000772956994

Key features of today’s episode:

• ✳️The issues with the most common criteria used for making new districts — including vague definitions of said criteria
• ✳️Why considering the future is important (and adds to the political complexity) when redistricting now
• ✳️How it’s not only politicians gerrymandering us — we also do it to ourselves to some extent
• ✳️3 prominent proposals made to try to fix the redistricting process — independent commissions, expanding the US House, and proportional representation
• ✳️Why it’s difficult to truly define and agree on what makes a “fair” district
• ✳️Whether it’s possible to make redistricting processes 100% fair — and why that benchmark doesn’t necessarily need to be the goal

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction

01:03 Recapping Current Criteria in Redistricting

02:55 Issues with Current Criteria in Redistricting

11:44 Considering the Future When Redistricting Now

17:14 Do We Also Gerrymander Ourselves?

21:32 How Do We Fix the Redistricting Process?

25:22 Would Independent Redistricting Commissions Fix Gerrymandering?

32:43 Would Expanding The US House Fix Gerrymandering?

39:59 Would Proportional Representation Fix Gerrymandering?

43:59 What Even is a “Fair” District?

48:15 Can We Ever Ensure Fair Districts?

50:38 Want More Fair Districts? Then Actually Hold Officials Accountable

55:45 Closing, Please Share and Subscribe, Links

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