Peder D4

Discussion of politics and other odious things

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Redistricting

Pretty good article on the NYT reaction to a proposed initiative to change California's electoral allotment. The short term impact would probably favor Republicans but as the article points out, there is no way to know how the parties would react in the long term.
The more serious questions about any change in the framework of the electoral college are, what would be the institutional and behavioral effects? How would each of our parties adapt, or fail to adapt? How would presidential campaigning change to take in the new situation? And what about the future of our two-party system itself?
For the record, I'm not in favor of playing around with the existing set up without lots and lots of study. There are disadvantages to the two party system we have here but there are also some pretty big positives, too.
The biggest gain we have is in stability. Neither party completely fits all the ideals of any one person. That leads to some healthy skepticism amongst the voters. It also drives both parties towards the middle and away from extremism. This is a good thing.

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