Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy Volume 28 | Issue 1 Article 9 May 2014 Gerrymandered Gridlock: Addressing the Hazardous Impact of Partisan Redistricting Nathan S. Catanese Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp Recommended Citation Nathan S. Catanese, Gerrymandered Gridlock: Addressing the Hazardous Impact of Partisan Redistricting, 28 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol'y 323 (2014). Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol28/iss1/9 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. 34929-nde_28-1 Sheet No. 167 Side A 05/07/2014 15:37:06 \\jciprod01\productn\N\NDE\28-1\NDE109.txt unknown Seq: 1 2-MAY-14 7:13 NOTES GERRYMANDERED GRIDLOCK: ADDRESSING THE HAZARDOUS IMPACT OF PARTISAN REDISTRICTING NATHAN S. CATANESE* “It used to be that the idea was, once every two years voters elected their representatives, and now, instead, it’s every ten years the representatives choose their constituents.”1 “We are in the business of rigging elections.”2 “To sum up, redistricting is a political disaster—an enormous political train wreck that occurs every ten years.”3 INTRODUCTION Nate Silver, noted statistician and founder of the popular blog Five Thirty Eight, recently estimated that in the House of Representatives, out of the four hundred and thirty-five districts, there are only thirty-five swing districts.4 Essentially, this means that congressional districts have become more polarized—either Republican-leaning districts are more conservative or Democratic-leaning districts are more liberal.5 With more members elected from districts in which there is no threat from * J.D.