Extreme maps, extreme politics
01/18/21 • 38 min
Despite ongoing threats of violence, the wheels of democracy continue to turn, and in 2021, that means redistricting. States will draw new electoral maps this year using data from the 2020 Census.
Our guest this week has spent the past decade covering attempts by politicians to draw those maps to their advantage in a practice known as gerrymandering. He's also covered the groups of citizens across the country who pushed back against them to win some major reforms that will make the process look different now than it did in 2010.
David Daley is a journalist and author of Unrigged: How Citizens are Battling Back to Save Democracy. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Slate, the Washington Post, and New York magazine. He is a senior fellow at FairVote, the former editor of Salon, and lives in Massachusetts.
Additional Information
Unrigged: How Americans are Battling Back to Save Democracy
Fair Districts PA on judicial gerrymandering
Related Episodes
One state's fight for fair maps
Next-generation democracy: An interview with high school student Kyle Hynes, who won Pennsylvania's citizen mapmaking contest.
Despite ongoing threats of violence, the wheels of democracy continue to turn, and in 2021, that means redistricting. States will draw new electoral maps this year using data from the 2020 Census.
Our guest this week has spent the past decade covering attempts by politicians to draw those maps to their advantage in a practice known as gerrymandering. He's also covered the groups of citizens across the country who pushed back against them to win some major reforms that will make the process look different now than it did in 2010.
David Daley is a journalist and author of Unrigged: How Citizens are Battling Back to Save Democracy. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Slate, the Washington Post, and New York magazine. He is a senior fellow at FairVote, the former editor of Salon, and lives in Massachusetts.
Additional Information
Unrigged: How Americans are Battling Back to Save Democracy
Fair Districts PA on judicial gerrymandering
Related Episodes
One state's fight for fair maps
Next-generation democracy: An interview with high school student Kyle Hynes, who won Pennsylvania's citizen mapmaking contest.
Previous Episode
American democracy's violent disruption
Democracy Works hosts Michael Berkman, Chris Beem, and Candis Watts Smith reflect on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and what it says about the condition of American democracy. They also discuss whether it's possible to learn from this moment and what guideposts they'll be looking for to determine whether all the talk about protecting and restoring democracy we've heard since the attack will translate into action.
This episode was recorded on Friday, January 8, 2021.
Additional Information
Statement from Michael Berkman and Chris Beem on January 6, 2021 attack
Related Episodes
Andrew Sullivan on democracy's double-edged sword
Next Episode
Check out our partners in The Democracy Group
We'll be back with a new episode of Democracy Works next week. In the meantime, we invite you to check out our partner podcasts in The Democracy Group podcast network. Here's a small sampling of what the network's shows have covered recently:
- Politics in Question examines the future of the Republican Party with the author of a new book on the Tea Party and insurgent factions in American policies.
- How Do We Fix It? explores free speech and big tech with former ACLU president Nadine Strossen.
- Future Hindsight discusses the link between Christianity and white supremacy in United States history.
- Another Way by Lawrence Lessig shines a light on what political reform lessons the United States can draw from Alaska.
- Democracy Matters from James Madison University explores the history of insurrection and section in the United States with a panel of faculty experts.
- 70 Million explores the push for criminal justice reform in jails throughout the United States
- The Science of Politics from the Niskanen Center explores the politics of homeschooling
- Out of Order from the German Marshall Fund of the United States takes stock of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which recently ended.
Learn more about the network and subscribe to its newsletter for updates at democracygroup.org.
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