Panelists stressed the need for competitive elections at a forum on gerrymandering and redistricting hosted by the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies last night in McDowell Formal Lounge.
Less competitive elections mean that Congress is "more populated by hard-edged partisans that make it more difficult for congress to get its job done," said former Congressman David Skaggs (D-CO).
The panelists called for redistricting reforms, agreeing that partisan redrawing on district lines results in a polarization of American politics, thus eliminating many centrist politicians by creating more politically extreme districts.
Curtis Gans, director of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, placed blame for political extremism on the primary system. With voter turnouts at around 10 percent for Demoratic primaries and 8 percent for Republican primaries, "a very organized 4 percent of the public propels a candidate into office, [which] pushes peripheral issues like abortion and flag burning" to center stage.
Former Congressman Mickey Edwards (R-OK) agreed, stating that there is a need for runoff elections in primaries, helping to counteract the effects of one of 5 or 6 primary candidates winning with just 20 percent of the vote.
Professor David Lublin attributed the gerrymandering problem to "having developed democracy too early," stating that countries in Europe took the time to develop federal systems for drawing districts. Gerrymandering is when a party divides up an area so it increases its voting base.
Letting politicians draw districts is "sort of like allowing professors to vote on their own tenure," Lublin said, adding that the political system needs redistricting authorities "more distant" from political parties.
Edwards suggested a law that would allow redistricting to be done only in the calendar year following a census as a possible solution to the problem.
CCPS director Jim Thurber moderated the discussion, which included former congressmen Skaggs and Edwards, and SPA professors Lublin and Brian Scaffner.
Members of the academic political community and journalists from the Cook Report and Congressional Quarterly, as well as professors and students made up the 35-person audience.
