Blogging on bureaucracy, organizations, USDA, agriculture programs, American history, the food movement, and other interests. Often contrarian, usually optimistic, sometimes didactic, occasionally funny, rarely wrong, always a nitpicker.
Monday, March 14, 2011
When Self-Interest Trumps Good Governance
Politico runs a story on the proposed redistricting of Virginia. Essentially it protects incumbents. Personally I like the result, if the story is accurate, because I trade Rep. Moran for Rep. Connolly (both Democrats, but Connolly is less flaky than Moran). But from the point of view of governance it's a bad deal. Virginia seems to be trending Democratic, but the 2010 election was big for Republicans. So protecting incumbents means freezing an 8-3 Republican margin in the House and a split in the state legislature (Reps the House of Delegates, Dems the Senate). A much better result in my goo-goo (good government) eyes would be lots more competitive districts, which would mean more interesting politics and a better expression of the popular will.
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