Government: Gerrymandering (Congress), Essay Example

Gerrymandering is generally performed by Congress in order to gain political control. Political parties that are in power use this technique to their advantage to draw up district lines in a manner that causes individuals that belong to their party to be the majority in that particular section. While it appears that gerrymandering was once necessary to draw district lines in order to cater to constantly changing populations, it now appears that this method has become a political tool and no longer serves its original purpose. Ultimately, it is important to reconsider the ways in which gerrymandering is currently used to restore it to its original functionality. While it would be detrimental to remove gerrymandering altogether, it would be valuable to add restrictions to what could be done by politicians purely in order to gain a political advantage. The political struggle that occurs as a consequence of gerrymandering practices appears to be one of the actions that allows Congress to be in a constant deadlock in terms of negotiations between parties.

When the United States was initially established, gerrymandering made sense to ensure that states would be able to receive fair representation based on their population. Each district would be assigned a representative who would travel to Washington D.C. to ensure that the interests of the constituents would be protected. The first record of gerrymandering in U.S. history occurred in 1788, indicating how this system demonstrated its flaws early on. Since this time, this technique has been used to both help and detriment political parties, individuals of different races, and more. Ultimately, gerrymandering is now used more as a method to legally discriminate against groups of people and to ensure that they are not represented if they do not favor the politician in power. As a consequence, it is necessary to reconsider the gerrymander laws to ensure that people still receive representation.

A primary way in which these laws could be changed to continue to reflect the changing composition of the population in a manner that benefits them is to require that the percentage of individuals within the district reflects the composition of the whole state. Therefore, districts should be built in a manner that generally reflects the gender, race, religion, and political affiliation of the state. While this will not be possible in some cases, it will ensure that districting is done in a fairer manner. Furthermore, in cases in which it is not possible to reflect the diversity of the state, the majority will be the group that is truly prevalent in a given area. For example, it would be challenging to create a balance between Caucasian, Asian, and Black individuals in an area that is mostly Black. As a consequence, the people living in this area will be truly represented by their congressman instead of having their voices be suppressed by gerrymandering.

Furthermore, there should be limits as to how many times gerrymandering can be done in addition to reasons why. For example, it would be reasonable to change the district after each census year due to an increased understanding of population size and distribution. However, gerrymandering should not legally be allowed to be performed in a biased manner that could cause anyone advantage or disadvantage. It is unreasonable to continue gerrymandering in its current manner and it is therefore essential to raise awareness pertaining to this subject so that change and justice could finally be implemented with regards to congressional power.