Keep your views to yourself

From this round-up at slate.com about various redistricting reform efforts around the nation:

"As for the various state contests that invite average citizens to submit their own plans, they’ve proven to be mostly for show. No state has yet adopted an outsider’s plan, even though many have been objectively superior to the real maps on criteria such as competitiveness and compactness. A college student won a Michigan redistricting competition this summer with a computer-generated plan that is significantly cleaner than what the lawmakers in Lansing conjured. They ignored it, of course."

The world of election district line-drawing is replete with anecdotes of conniving politicians putting the views (and work) of the general public on the trash heap. Still, this year's redistricting effort is part of a larger trend story at the State Capitol: A fundamental disconnect between public servants and the public.

I truly think that most legislators in 2011 operated with no real regard for what most Michigan residents thought. Redistricting is part of this, as lines have been drawn to secure partisan advantage and empower political extremes. A bigger story, though, is where Americans live. We are clumping by cultural and political viewpoints. Take skewed election districts, poor voter turnout and these demographic trends and you end up with a statewide body that stems from, and feels itself indebted to, a fraction of the overall electorate.

I truly think are are a number of Michigan voters who are absolutely thrilled with the body of work at the State Capitol in 2011. I just happen to think they constitute 20 percent of the overall population.