One of the largest divides in our country

[jeff47]

Last edited Sat Jul 5, 2014, 08:47 PM - Edit history (1)

( Image Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/half-of-the-united-states-lives-in-these-counties-2013-9 )

Half of the US population lives in the blue counties on that map.

Yet half of our government does not come from those blue counties, resulting in a whole lot of our current problems.

Edit: Blue just marks the counties. It does not indicate political affiliation

[emsimon33]

1. Very interesting!

[yeoman6987]

27. Well it appears we are not running out of room that is for sure.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. Just think if we could move away from geographic representation

in Congress. These men and women are supposed to help all Americans, yet their election is tied to archaic geographical units that they supposedly 'represent', yet many of them do nothing of the sort. With a non-geographically-bound parliamentary system, we could have real representation, and not have the majority of votes cast being cast in regions chosen by the politicians as 'safe' for incumbents.

[cyberswede]

7. I remember reading something by Hendrik Hertzberg on "proportional representation" that makes sense.

I can't find the essay online, but here's the Wikipedia entry on PR.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_representation

Proportional representation (PR) is a principle applied to voting systems to elect an assembly or council to ensure that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system, if 30% of voters support a particular party then roughly 30% of seats will be won by that party.

PR is an alternative to voting systems based on single-member districts or on bloc voting. These non-PR systems tend to produce disproportionate outcomes for the winning party or parties (shares of seats larger than shares of votes) and are biased in favour of larger political parties. Under PR systems, smaller parties are allocated seats in proportion to their share of the vote and are thus more likely to secure a certain level of representation, although the details will vary from case to case depending on the details of any particular system.

[handmade34]

3. makes the electoral college seem moot

[Thinkingabout]

4. As a resident of Harris County, Tx if we did not have Tom Delay drawn district lines we could have

More Democrats elected. In the last two major elections Harris county has voted Democrat. Actually whites are in the minority, I was surprised to see many of the Middle Easterns, Asian, Hispanic and some of white Democrats such as myself we can pull a lot of votes.

[arcane1]

5. Very interesting when viewed that way.

[lovemydog]

6. Those are my favorite places

Austin, NYC, Ann Arbor, San Fran, Santa Fe, Seattle, Miami, Madison, Boulder, Asheville etc. all down the line.

[TygrBright]

19. Santa Fe's not one of those blue counties!

The blue county you see in NM is Bernalillo, where Albuquerque is.

Santa Fe is a surprisingly small town.

But very, VERY blue!

precisely,
Bright

[lovemydog]

21. Thank you. Rock on Bernalillo County!

[JaneyVee]

8. We would be the most progressive country on earth if

Government was sorted thus way.

[NuclearDem]

9. Case for reforming Congress into a parliamentary system, Exhibit A.

[redqueen]

10. K&R

[undeterred]

11. Madison WI should have two Senators

We already have Tammy Baldwin.

[Scuba]

29. More evidence that when Dems run a real progressive in Wisconsin, we win. When we run ...

... a Republican-lite candidate, we lose.

[mother earth]

12. Thanks, explains a lot. Who knew? K & R

[littlemissmartypants]

13. Kicking. Thank you. nt

[RainDog]

14. kick n/t

[whistler162]

15. Yes, I am one of the Overlords.......

Onondaga county rules! Bow before our largeness.


The population concentrations was why the founding fathers decided on 2 Senators from each state and proportional representation in the House.

You have a better idea?

[jeff47]

17. Yep

The original plan was to have another body based on population. So they gave the House a lot more seats so that it could reflect the population.

Unfortunately, it's been about 100 years since we increased the number of representatives, so it's not a very good representation of the population.

For example, gerrymandering works quite well with the relatively few representatives that we have.

So, easiest solution is to increase the number of people in the House.

Switching to a form of government that has turned out to work better (ex parliamentary) is a much harder task

[lovemydog]

20. The blue places decide economic, education, energy,

defense, civil rights, taxation and spending issues?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

16. Now find a map showing ownership by agribusiness.

[calimary]

18. GOOD to know! Thanks for posting this, jeff47!

Graphics and charts sure do help, don't they?! This makes it really really clear.

My immediate reaction is - "chip away! Chip away! Pick 'em off, one by one! Let's turn those counties blue, little by little!"

[jeff47]

24. The map's just population, not political affiliation.

You can't really "chip away" without people leaving the cities.

[NRaleighLiberal]

22. just fascinating...lots to ponder.

[MisterP]

23. a nationwide party-list Senate would actually be an interesting notion

[secondvariety]

25. Pinellas County, Fl.

is a blue county and we can't even get ANY Democrat to run against a weak Repug Representative.

[get the red out]

26. I agree

Disproportionate representation.

[paleotn]

28. I agree....

....and that's from a guy who's entire county has less population than 5 or 6 blocks in NYC I'd bet.