Redisricting reform overrated, according to PPIC

A newly released study from the Public Policy Institute of California finds little reason to think that Proposition 11 would have much of an effect in terms of creating more moderate state legislators through more moderately drawn legislative districts.

The report, which also studied how politicians acted after the legislature drew districts largely favored to the incumbent party in 2001, found that lawmakers acted consistently regardless of their district.

"Redistricting did not make California legislators more partisan. They were partisan to begin with," wrote Eric McGhee, a PPIC research fellow, in regard to the report.

Other key findings include that legislators were more likely to vote with their party than in tune with their district's makeup, that the most balanced districts are no more likely to create moderate-voting legislators, and that changing to districts used before 2001 wouldn't have been likely to change votes on issues such as the state budget.

The report, Redistricting and Legislative Partisanship, did not specifically examine the potential effects of Proposition 11, on the Nov. 4 ballot.

That measure would create a 14-member panel of Democrats, Republicans and third-party state residents without political involvement who would draw new districts for 2012 races under certain criteria.

Under current law, state lawmakers re-draw lines every 10 lines for such districts after the U.S. Census.

While the report acknowledged that policy discussions in Sacramento have become more polarized, gerrymandered districts are not the cause, it concluded.

Rather, increasing polarization among voters, stronger "toe the line" party leadership and the influence of third-party interest groups on races are possible factors, according to the report.

Open primaries and campaign finance reform, along with mobilization of more moderate candidates, would do more to moderate the state legislature overall than redistricting reform, the report suggested.

A group opposing Proposition 11 called Citizens for Accountability seized on the report as proof that the measure wouldn't constitute political reform.

"Today's PPIC report proves what opponents of Prop. 11 have been saying all along: Prop. 11 isn't reform, it's just a confusing scheme that won't give most of California's 58 counties any say over how districts are drawn," said California Democratic Party chairman Art Torres, in a press release from Citizens for Accountability.

The Democratic Party, some unions and some ethnic groups concerned about underrepresentation under Proposition 11 have been the principal opposition to the measure, which is backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and government-reform groups such as Common Cause.