Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Shortest Split-Line Method

From the Game, and articles we have read its evident that the main reason Gerrymandering is a problem is because people have bias for one party or another.  The Congressional Redistricting packet showed 2 cases in which the districts were drawn to favor a party.  This problem arose from the bias held by those in charge of drawing the lines.  In the Redistricting Game, we saw several clear circumstances in which lines were drawn in order to favor one party or even just secure the votes for each party.  As CGP Grey discussed in his video, allowing people to create the lines can lead to corruption in all situations. Whether you have one person purposefully Gerrymandering to try to reverse the effects brought on by it in the first place, or have a commission dedicated to making unbiased lines, either situation holds room for bias to get in the way of creating a fair political landscape.  This the reason as to why I have decided that the Shortest Split-line Method of redistricting is the most effective way of going about this issue.  Relying on solely mathematics will end the issue of having biased people corrupting the districts lines, which is Gerrymandering's main issue.  While CGP Grey had discussed the issue of unintentionally skewing the districts as if they were being Gerrymandered, this option still holds to being the best option.  There is no perfect way to solve this problem, but the Shortest Split-Line method is the closest.  This option leads to population equality and eliminates the issue of biased line creators.  These two factors alone are reason enough to switch to this method.  
  

1 comment:

  1. Math? You want to trust math?! Kidding, nice job referencing the readings.

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