Being proactive about redistricting sounds like a good idea to me. Having said that, I worry about wasting valuable resources in an effort that we believe may work, but are unsure in which ways. To that end, I wanted to highlight the following work (McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal):
Both pundits and scholars have blamed increasing levels of partisan conflict and polarization in Congress on the effects of partisan gerrymandering. We assess whether there is a strong causal relationship between congressional districting and polarization. We find very little evidence for such a link.Now, partisanship isn't my worry in regards to gerrymandering. My worry is an inaccurate representation of the electorate (which is to say, a blue state with more red legislators). To that end, something like the Fair Districts Florida petition drive seems to be a step in the right direction as long as we understand what will (and won't) be the consequences of success.
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