Redistricting? Or Re-Sorting?

Joe Mathews — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:59:00 -0400

Just got my hands on a new book with an interesting new argument that has relevance for California's ongoing battle over redistricting reform.

In The Big Sort, Bill Bishop, a reporter in Texas, argues that Americans have sorted themselves into homogeneous communities, enclaves full of people with similar backgrounds, education and politics. If he's right, and he has a mountain of demographic evidence, redistricting reforms of the type offered in Gov. Schwarzenegger's current ballot initiative are likely to do very little to give us the kind of bipartisan politics and competitive elections California reformers seek.

It may be that, once again, it's time for California and reformers across the country to think bigger if they want political change. And it may simply be impossible to change politics by changing legislative districts. The real trick is to increase the quantity and quality of voter engagement, and to change the culture and make-up of communities. For its civic health, America needs more than redistricting, though that's the reform we're being fed over and over in the largest state. Tackling polarization is a big job, and hard to do by ballot initiative -- or to contemplate in a short blog post.