Re(d)-Districting
The debate about statehood for Washington D.C. is the next battleground in the Democrat Party’s desperate bid to seize power from the American people before the people inevitably reject them again. One of the rhetorical cudgels they have (quite ironically) trotted out to this end is the claim that the D.C. is not “represented” enough. They believe that cities like D.C. need to receive more representation in Congress. In reality, the exact opposite needs to happen.
Cities have the innate ability to enact a disproportionate influence on our politics. The Founding Fathers knew this well. Many of the Founders, especially those who were adherents to country ideology/classical republicanism, knew that cities were emblematic of a society in decay. They also knew the inherent risks of cities in a republican society, that small but consolidated population centers could poison the process of policymaking and prevent a genuine consensus of the people. That is why they went to great lengths to curtail the power of popular election. While Article II never set specific parameters for the Electoral College, it was originally intended for the state legislatures to choose electors who would then cast votes for the state. The Senate was originally arranged in a similar way; Senators were appointed by state legislatures. In fact, for a long time, the only political offices elected by popular vote were Congressmen and state and local officials. Popular votes for President and Senate are novelties, and only popular elections of Senators are included in the Constitution, and only then by amendment. Selecting electoral slates by popular vote was simply the result of individual states deciding to hold them that way.
And these innovations have obviously had a detrimental impact on the republic.
Regardless of the claims of fraud, it is undeniably true that the 2020 elections were swung entirely by 6 cities: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Phoenix. The vote differentials in these cities alone more than account for the entire vote differential between Former President Trump and Joe Biden. This cannot be allowed to persist. The ability of a few cities to swing that much political power is incredibly dangerous. Our cities need to be politically diminished, even isolated, to prevent their disproportionate influence from stealing away the rights of the minority.
The State of Wisconsin proposed a bold election reform in the wake of the 2020 election that would allocate the State’s electoral votes by Congressional district. This proposal effectively doubles down on the Electoral College. It makes sure that every district receives equal representation, that the votes of rural Wisconsinites are not canceled out by the margins of Milwaukee County. It’s an excellent proposal, and it should be adopted by other states that experience the same problem of one or two cities outvoting the rest of the state. States owe it to their citizens to explore these options for statewide races as well.
The ideal case would be for these cities to be detached from the rest of their states to become independent federal districts like Washington DC.
Each city over a certain percentage of a state's population could be declared such a district, able to fully control its own local affairs, subject only to federal law. They would be given non-voting, at-large members of the House of Representatives, and they would still be allowed to choose electors based on population. These mutually beneficial “autonomous zones” would be able to enact their own local policies, which would benefit the cities, while not intervening in state and federal elections, which would benefit the states. Furthermore, it would ideally disincentivize people consolidating in urban centers for the very reason the Democrats are whining about. If they so desperately seek federal representation, they should be willing to leave the cities and engage with the rest of their state. Immediate candidate cities for this policy would be: New York City, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, and the 6 cities mentioned above.
The current divide in our nation stems from the emergence of two separate cultures: one urban and one rural. Liberalism and Progressivism ultimately stem from urban Cosmopolitanism, and most of the Democratic Party’s ideological and electoral trends match this shift. Unfortunately for them, these trends are only popular in a very consolidated sector of the population. This is unacceptable. So they’ve decided to go to war with Deep America, with Washington D.C. and cities as their weapon of choice. Conservatives should relish the challenge. Better yet, we should dare to grab the cudgel from their hands and use their own weapon against them.