By Steve Brawner , © 2025 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Lawmakers mainly do two things. Both they and voters should not focus so much on the first that they ignore the second.

The first thing lawmakers do is enact policies. That’s what Americans tend to care about, whether it’s the economy, foreign policy, or hot-button culture-war issues such as immigration, abortion, or guns.

These issues are divisive. The passions they arise have created an us-versus-them dynamic, both in Congress and in communities.

The more those flames get fanned, the less likely elected officials will do the second thing well: protecting, preserving and strengthening the democratic process itself. 

While many issues come and go, that one’s been constant since the country’s founding. How do we govern ourselves in a way that honors the people’s will while also tempering public passions? That question will continue to be asked until the day America’s constitutional republic ceases to exist.

Differences on policy issues can become so pronounced – or, often, intentionally exaggerated – that elected officials and their voters can justify actions that harm the democratic process. People will allow themselves a lot of leeway when they convince themselves that their opponents must be stopped at all costs.

We’re seeing this dynamic play out with battles over congressional redistricting. It started with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, encouraged by President Trump, calling legislators into special session to redraw congressional districts. There’s no question why this is happening. By mixing and matching voters, Republicans can gain five seats in Congress. Such reapportionments typically occur after a census is done at the end of a decade, not in the middle. But here we are.

The likely result will be that 30 of Texas’ 38 members of the House of Representatives probably will be Republicans after the next election, rather than the current 25. That state’s delegation would be more than three-fourths Republican. President Trump won Texas last year with 56.2% of the vote.

In response, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his legislature approved a special election Nov. 4 that could allow that state to redraw its districts so Democrats can pick up five seats there. If all goes according to their plan, Democrats will occupy 48 of the state’s 52 congressional seats. That’s about 92% in a state where Kamala Harris won 58.5% of the vote last November.

Now Missouri has done the same thing to give Republicans another seat.

Whose next? Not Arkansas, where there’s nothing left for the majority party to do. All four members of the state’s House delegation are already Republicans in a state Trump won by 30 points. The Legislature redrew the state’s map after the last census in a way that benefits Republicans. It did this by splitting Democratic-heavy parts around the Little Rock area into three congressional districts. The change strengthened Republicans’ hand in the 2nd District, which they were going to win anyway.

U.S. House elections are becoming less and less competitive, for several reasons. One is that people tend to live near people who are like themselves and who vote like them. Another is that Republicans and Democrats really are different in substantive ways, and people choose sides.

These are acceptable aspects of the democratic process. What we shouldn’t accept is parties trying to gain control of Congress through mid-decade, computer-generated squiggly lines, instead of convincing voters of the rightness of their cause. 

If these efforts succeed, and most if not all probably will, even fewer districts will be competitive. That means fewer elected officials must listen to and weigh the needs of diverse constituencies under the threat of losing in November if they don’t. 

And if we already know who’s going to win an election, why bother participating? 

The U.S. constitutional republic remains strong, but it’s not as strong as it was. In recent years, we’ve moved in the direction of countries we really don’t want to be like. It’s not clear how far. Hopefully not so much. Regardless, let’s stop now. And let’s turn back.

Let’s all of us – elected lawmakers and voters – focus a little more on doing that second thing right. It’s the issue that’s always mattered for 250 years. 

It helps us do the first thing better, too. 

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 21 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.