Dysfunctional redistricting

By J.J. Balaban

As divided as Americans are about politics right now, there's one thing that nearly everyone agrees on: Congress is dysfunctional. Yet our state legislators in Harrisburg have found a way to make things even worse in Washington. Pennsylvania's new congressional map will result in legislators who are even less inclined to pursue moderate policies and bipartisan agreements.

At one level, this redrawing of Pennsylvania's congressional districts is a shameful partisan power grab. Gov. Corbett and the Republicans who run Harrisburg have drawn congressional districts that don't remotely reflect a state with a million more Democrats than Republicans. By clustering the Democrats into a handful of districts, their plan would make it highly likely that 12 or 13 of Pennsylvania's 18 members of Congress will be Republicans.

But upon closer inspection, the map is bad for all Pennsylvanians - Democrats, independents, and Republicans - because it unnecessarily divides communities. Instead of following the tradition of respecting county and municipality lines, the map would make it impossible for most people to know who their member of Congress is, which makes it impossible to hold them accountable. Depending on which block you live on in, say, West Norriton, you might be represented by one of three members of Congress, none of whom live nearby.

Further polarization

There are plenty of politicians to blame for this plan, but the lion's share should fall on the two area Republicans who stand to benefit most from the plan: U.S. Reps. Pat Meehan of Delaware County and Jim Gerlach of Chester County. Both currently represent districts that cast a majority of votes for President Obama in 2008, so they pressured their allies in Harrisburg to give them districts with more Republicans, and the only way they could do that is by drawing districts that resemble modern art more than sensible government.