Geography Essay Samples

Governor Rick Snyder of the State of Michigan signed a bill that would enable their citizens to access the use of telemedicine. Telemedicine refers to the use of information technology for the health care of the people away from clinical health care. It was the governor’s way to help the elderly of Michigan for their health care. It was also the way for taking advantage of the technological advancements such as the internet and online communication. It has unanimous support from the State Government of Michigan. However, Governor Rick Snyder also signed the bill that would ban the use of telemedicine for abortion purposes. The bill could also abolish all the abortion clinics in Michigan due to the provisions of the Telemedicine Bill. The same governor also signed a bill that would ban the use of insurance for abortion purposes. The only exemption for the insurance in abortion according to the bill is when the patient is at high risk for death. The State Government of Michigan is also pursuing the ban on the use of Shariah Law. Shariah is a sacred law used in Muslim religion and culture. The State Government of Michigan is considering it due to the issue of President Obama being a Muslim. One major reason why Governor Snyder or the State Legislature passed their bills easily is that most of the seated politician in Michigan are Republicans.
During the elections in Michigan, more people voted for a Democrat than a Republican. Barrack Obama who is a Democrat has a vote which is 10 percent more than his republican opponent. For the election of the law makers in the State House, the citizens in Michigan has almost 300,000 more votes for Democrats than Republicans. However, there are more Republican house representatives than the Democrats which gave them the advantage for pursuing their bills and policies. Citizens of Michigan also has more votes for the Democrat Congressman for the United States House of Representatives than Republicans. However, only 5 Democrat Congressman won and 9 for the Republicans. It is an unusual situation were more Republican politicians have a position in the State Government of Michigan although the Democrats received more votes from the people.
Almost the same condition happened in Wisconsin, Virginia and the other states. In Wisconsin, they also voted more members of the Democrats for Congress. However, there are more Republican Congressmen that will seat in the House of Representatives after the election. In Virginia, the vote for the Republicans and Democrats were almost the same but the number of Congressional delegation is one sided. There are more Republican Congressmen in Virginia than Democrat Congressmen. It is also the same situation in Ohio and in Pennsylvania. There are more Republican Politicians who won the election in these states although the Democrat members received more votes for them. It is not an election manipulation but a process refer to as gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is a practice that establish a political advantage by the manipulation of the boundaries between districts.
Both political parties have issues about gerrymandering during and after the elections. The electoral tides however was turned towards the Democrats. It could be visible through the landslide win of President Barrack Obama and the large number of votes for the Democrats than the Republicans. The rash of gerrymandering of the Republicans over the last several years is due to the shift of electoral tides towards the Democrats and against the Republicans. The states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan are all Blue States which means they support the Democrats over the Republicans. However, they all have Red State Legislators which means they have more Republicans to represent them in the State Government. It is also a rash issue due to the concern about rigging the political system of the United States. There is a controversy that the Republicans are concerned about the idea of a presidential election which is won by the number of districts acquired during the election. It is a national issue where the political system of the country is at stake or in concern.
Gerrymandering is a manipulation of the demographics for the advantage of the political power. One advantage of gerrymandering is maximizing the number of districts and protecting more citizens in the certain district. However, it is a process that could separate the people from each other. Gerrymandering should be abolished and should not be allowed by constitutional provision since it could split the country and the states. Even though some of the marginalized groups of people have the advantage due to the gerrymandering, there are also some groups of people that are not well represented. Geography could be one reason for gerrymandering but the social and political system could be ravaged by this process. Inequality could be one of the major result of gerrymandering. Some group of people could have the benefit of political power while the others are not well represented in the State Government. The state could also be controlled by one political party alone which could gave them power to alter their political system.