- Nov 2023
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dianeravitch.net dianeravitch.net
- Oct 2022
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Local file Local file
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Mosca backs up histhesis with this assertion: It's the power of organization thatenables the minority always to rule. There are organizedminorities and they run things and men. There are unorganizedmajorities and they are run.
In a democracy, is it not just rule by majority, but rule by the most organized that ends up dominating the society?
Perhaps C. Wright Mills' work on the elite has some answers?
The Republican party's use of organization to create gerrymandering is a clear example of using extreme organization to create minority rule. Cross reference: Slay the Dragon in which this issue is laid out with the mention of using a tiny amount of money to careful gerrymander maps to provide outsized influences and then top-down outlines to imprint broad ideas from a central location onto smaller individual constituencies (state and local).
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- Sep 2022
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projects.fivethirtyeight.com projects.fivethirtyeight.com
- Jun 2022
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teachingamericanhistory.org teachingamericanhistory.org
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https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/patrick-henry-virginia-ratifying-convention-va/
While gerrymandering isn't brought up explicitly here, the underlying principles are railed against heavily.
Some interesting things applicable to the rise of Donald J. Trump hiding in here.
Interesting to read this in its historical context versus our present context. So much can be read into his words from our current context, while others can extract dramatically different views--particularly by Constitutional originalists.
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On examination, you will find this very judiciary oppressively constructed; your jury trial destroyed, and the judges dependent on Congress.
Gerrymandering has provided exactly the idea of "judges dependent on Congress" just as Patrick Henry suggested, though it has been done more circuitously than he imagined.
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A bare majority in these four small states may hinder the adoption of amendments; so that we may fairly and justly conclude that one twentieth part of the American people may prevent the removal of the most grievous inconveniences and oppression, by refusing to accede to amendments. A trifling minority may reject the most salutary amendments. Is this an easy mode of securing the public liberty It is, sir, a most fearful situation, when the most contemptible minority can prevent the alteration of the most oppressive government; for it may, in many respects, prove to be such. Is this the spirit of republicanism?
Patrick Henry railed against the idea that small minorities could hold the country hostage and subject us to "the most oppressive government".
Little did he anticipate that gerrymandering and chicanery of just such a nature would come to pass in American History.
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- Jan 2022
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www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
- May 2021
- Feb 2021
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fivethirtyeight.com fivethirtyeight.com
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Democrats won’t be able to use reconciliation to enact the government-reform bill that House Democrats adopted in 2019, which among other things would create two weeks of early voting in all 50 states and put redistricting in the hands of nonpartisan, independent commissions.
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fivethirtyeight.com fivethirtyeight.com
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The idea of bellwether counties seems to be disappearing.
Are there indicators here that could be leveraged to help pull people to the middle rather than being so heavily polarized or to prevent future gerrymandering?
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- Nov 2020
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www.vox.com www.vox.com
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Here’s the grim kicker: The conditions that made Trump and this Republican Party possible are set to worsen. Republicans retained control of enough statehouses to drive the next redistricting effort, too, and their 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court will unleash their map-drawers more fully. The elections analyst G. Elliott Morris estimates that the gap between the popular vote margin and the tipping point-state in the Electoral College will be 4-5 percentage points, and that the GOP’s control of the redistricting process could push it to 6-7 points next time.
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- Jan 2014
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web.law.columbia.edu web.law.columbia.edu
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This map requires Adobe Flash Player.
Get the data and ask them to redraw it using D3.js
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ivn.us ivn.us
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The formula is simple: divide the population by the number of congressional or legislative districts and use the existing geo-political boundaries to come as close to the required number as possible.
How can we get this enacted/mandated?
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