Gerrymandering Argumentative Essay

Politicians are manipulating your votes. In our republic, the views of the people are supposed to be represented through the officials they elect. However, in many states, including our own, this idea of a republic is under attack. Our state legislature is being tried on accounts of illegal partisan gerrymandering. The Democrat led legislature drew districts with the goal of maintaining their party’s power in the state legislature. The result of this gerrymandering was an overrepresented Democratic party, inaccurately reflecting the views of our state’s citizens. It’s important to acknowledge that our court’s ruling on this issue has larger implications in the battle against gerrymandering as a whole. Gill v. Whitford 16 U.S. 1161 (2017-18) is another recent case that illustrates why gerrymandering is such a pressing question in our republic. The Republican state legislature in Wisconsin created unfair districts to ensure their majority in 2011. This redistricting resulted in the Wisconsin Republicans obtaining over sixty percent of …show more content…
In a well functioning republic, voters elect officials whose ideals align with their own. To allow politicians with a vested interest in the way districts are drawn create congressional districts is inherently illogical, and, as the court cases in Wisconsin and our state have shown, politicians of both parties will act on this vested interest. Disproportionate representation is a result of gerrymandering when redistricting is placed in the hands of state legislatures, but it is not the only result. Packing districts also decreases political competition. The consequence of the lack of competition is increasing polarity in office. With packed districts, candidates do not need to appeal to members of both parties to win office, so they are able to take their views to an extreme in order to appeal to the more extreme members of their