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178 points JumpCrisscross | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.397s | source
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PieTime ◴[] No.45191474[source]
When I see sub 40 percent approval rate for both parties in congress… we’ve almost reached the moment where a majority of people believe both democrats and republicans have a negative view yet the 3rd parties will remain elusive due to gerrymandering districts.
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1. jfengel ◴[] No.45201117[source]
Congress' approval ratings are always under 40%, and have been for as long as they've been taking data.

And yet most actual Congressmen have a high approval rating within their district. Incumbents have an extremely high return rate.

The problem is never your Congressperson. It's always because Congress is filled with other districts' Congresspeople.

I don't think you'll fix that by un-gerrymandering. If anything, I bet you'll get even higher approval ratings for the incumbents, since you'll have fewer "cracked" districts (boundaries drawn to make a group a minority in two districts instead of the majority in one).

Ending gerrymandering might get a Congress that better reflects what people want. But mostly, what people want is for "the other guys" (whoever is not in your party) to win.