Over the course of the past several weeks, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael McDonald, Ph.D., of the University of Florida. McDonald is a professor of political science and will be a panelist at the Fighting Gerrymandering in 2021 panel along with Michael Li (Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law). I was able to ask McDonald some questions regarding his background with the studies, what he’s achieved,  what he hopes to achieve in the future and what he’s looking forward to at SXSW.

What drove you to pursue political science? Or, more specifically, what prompted you to study gerrymandering more in depth?

“As an undergrad at Caltech, I had an opportunity to work with one of the researchers (a professor of social sciences at the university) on projects involving the data of political and election firms in California. Working on this gave me a desire to to present digital and political data in courts, prompting me to earn my Ph.D. in Political Science. Since then, I have had the opportunity to make a difference in putting power back in the hands of the people, as far as district drawing was concerned, and less in the hands of higher authorities.”

Have you noticed a shift in public interest towards gerrymandering and the redistricting process?

“The difference between now and a decade ago is phenomenal. Now conference rooms are jam-packed with people who are actively trying to make a difference, because they are aware of the corrosive effects of gerrymandering. District drawing competitions were being held across the country, and there were cases where high school-aged children were drawing better maps than the legislature. Interviews with people drawing district maps also paint this issue as more of a human interest story in people who were trying to make an effective change.”

“District drawing technology, such as DistrictBuilder, was a significant boon in this process. For the average person, the tech was expansive, as it was typically used by people in greater positions of authority. We weren’t the only people doing this, but the number of redistricting plans that were legal would only comply with the legal requirements of the states. We’re likely to see more of this growing in the same vein as district drawing. We’re likely to see a wider distribution of wealth in district drawing, and we look at different plans as far as who’s more diverse, compact, etc. The issue for 2020 is compiling all of this information together so that we can come up with a map that best reflects the desires and district designs of the overall public consensus.”

Tell me more about DistrictBuilder, as it appears to have helped reshape the interactive landscape between the individual and district map design into something more accessible and more actively shared with a public audience.

“DistrictBuilder came about as a result of a conversation with a colleague of mine. We started developing software that would have made this map-drawing process more reasonable. We were presenting our work at a program software meeting, where we argued that the human mind is like a complex computer — it can not only make rational judgments like a computer but can also make more value-based judgments based on where these problems come from. Humans would be able to come up with more solutions in contrast to the computerized results, and see solutions that substantial computers can’t.”

“Going off of this premise, we partnered up with a software development company in Philadelphia to make a district software that was very user friendly and allowed for the true public to draw and design their own ideas and more accurate representation on part of the public. Eventually, we had full implementation into the states and have more participation by the public and the states to work together on drawing more accurate and fair districts. I think there will be opportunities in 2020 where independent commissions will have a greater impact on how district maps are drawn, particularly in Minneapolis, where city redistricting authorities are more responsive to what the citizens are trying to tell the authorities.”

Finally, will this be your first time at SXSW? If so, what are you most looking forward to? If not, what’s your favorite part? or what do you hope to get out of it, generally speaking?

“This is my first time at the SXSW event, but I have been to Austin before — I look forward to being in weird Austin.”

“During the last round of redistricting, we learned that we have to have grassroots organizing and buy in from the public so that the tech used for redistricting would actually be put to use and so that redistricting can actually be efficient. Public outreach has to happen before we release software for the public to use. You have to market what you’re trying to accomplish, and I hope to make this happen in SXSW — I want to make connections with people who are just as passionate about the redistricting efforts so that a true difference can be made for public advocacy and have a positive impact on the future of district mapping.”

Find out more: Fighting Gerrymandering in 2021

Friday, March 8
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Hilton Austin Downtown – Salon A

Featured image: Flickr