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One of my favorite bits of wisdom involves Edgar Mitchell explaining how traveling to outer space changed his perspective of earth.

Mitchell, an Apollo 14 astronaut and the sixth person to walk on the moon, said, From out there on the moon, international politics looks so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, Look at that, you [SOB].

Excuse the language. Mr. Mitchell, who died in 2016 at age 85, had a point to make.

I thought of him when absorbing the news last week that the N.C. Supreme Court had thrown out its previous ruling against gerrymandered voting maps.

In short, the state Supreme Court had been controlled by a Democratic majority when it struck down the maps last year because they said it gave Republicans outsized electoral advantage compared to their voting power, as an Associated Press Report described. Republicans have since gained control of the state Supreme Court, leading to last weeks ruling that asserts the General Assembly should be the one making all of the district-drawing decisions and not the high court.

I suppose theres a deeper issue than the letter of the law of the state constitution.

Gerrymandering is not a Republican or Democratic phenomenon; Rather, its origins are at least as old as the country itself.

But the name is distinctly American. It derives from Elbridge Gerry, a Massachusetts governor who was also one of James Madison's vice presidents and a genuine founding father. As governor, Gerry signed off in 1812 on a new state senate district to favor his Democratic-Republican party. The redrawn districts boundaries meandered around the state in such pronounced fashion that the map seemed to evoke an image of some type of slithering creature, or salamander, as someone is believed to have pointed out.

In a story on the subject for History.com, political science professor Thomas Hunter offered, Modern forms of gerrymandering continue In some ways, [it is] politicians picking their voters as opposed to voters picking their politicians.

Therein lies a problem for a country that prides itself on democracy. The will of the people is often swept aside by partisanship.

This, from Politico in March, on North Carolinas redistricting battle: The state is closely divided. President Joe Biden lost to former President Donald Trump by less than a point and a half in the state in 2020. Republicans in the state, if the case breaks their way, could put a new map in place that would have 11 Republican-leaning districts and three Democratic-leaning ones a significant boost for Republicans hopes of keeping the U.S. House.

If were truly to have government by the people and for the people, why is it that politicians make most of the decisions for us? Why don't more referendums happen? And why is the popular vote so often stifled?

Our founding fathers, like Gerry, were perhaps wise enough to devise a system of checks and balances to ensure neither the people nor one person had too much power. There are decisions Id much rather have determined by nonpartisan experts, if thats even possible, than by popular vote. I think that's supposed to be a key feature of representative democracy, but the system ceases to be about the people at all when their will is routinely overruled by a partys desire for power.

Jeff Jackson, a Democrat who represents North Carolinas 14th Congressional District, said in 2016 of the states redistricting process, Its like monkeys throwing darts.

Hyperbole, sure, but North Carolinians deserve a better system than that, as do all Americans. We deserve elected officials who understand that lines on a map, necessary as they are, cannot be seen from outer space. We deserve representatives that believethe people within those imaginary boundaries are what really matter, regardless of who those people voted for in the last election.

At the very least, we deserve lawmakers, government officials and educators that are more forthcoming about the differences between a representative democracy and a direct one, and which one is being employed and when.

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Redistricting tests boundaries of democracy | Archives ... - The Daily Dispatch

One of our main goals in the show is to highlight great scholars who are working on the problems democracy faces today, said co-host William I. Hitchcock, James Madison Professor of History. We wanted to help get that academic work out to the broader public, because students and citizens everywhere need context to understand our current democratic crisis. Listeners want the depth and substance they cannot find in a lot of media, and were here to deliver.

The Webby Awards is an international program intended to honor excellence on the internet. Categories included in the awards program range from websites and mobile sites to video, advertising, social media, games and apps.

The awards were established in 1996 and are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

Intercepted, a podcast produced by The Intercept, took the judges award in the News and Politics division, whereas Democracy in Danger won the peoples choice. Into America, by NBC News Audio; Post Reports, by the Washington Post; and The Prince by The Economist, were among the nominees in the Karsh Institutes category.

How did we beat those other guys? For one, we have extremely dedicated listeners who appreciate the work we do. Our show goes beyond the sound bites and conventional storylines of the 24-hour news cycle, said Roberto I. Armengol, a UVA anthropologist and the podcasts producer. We address pressing issues that are in the headlines, but we go beyond the headlines. We contextualize real and present threats to democracy with deep scholarship, robust arguments and compelling stories about the struggle for freedom and self-governance in the United States and around the world. Sometimes, were even funny.

Vaidhyanathan said the podcast started as the public-facing project of the Democracy Lab that he operated from 2019 to 2022. When the lab project ended, the podcast continued within the Karsh Institute.

Our breakthrough moment was, sadly, the exact moment when American democracy found itself under attack from domestic enemies: Jan. 6, 2021, Vaidhyanathan said. We were teaching a January term course called Democracy in Danger when suddenly we were all transfixed by the invasion of our Capitol and the violence perpetrated on law enforcement. Our students and we had an emotionally cathartic class session that bonded us forever.

Vaidhyanathan said the podcast is not a dry, academic, theoretical account of various threats to democracy, but introduces listeners to activists, artists, leaders, lawyers, scholars and even songwriters.

Read more here:
'Democracy in Danger' Podcast Wins Webby Award Against Stiff ... - UVA Today

US House Kevin McCarthy says that checks on power are an important part of a democratic government, but insists that judicial reform in Israel is an internal issue which should decided by the Israeli public.

Israel is their own nation, only it can decide what it wants to do. In a democracy you want checks and balances and a separation of powers but we leave it up to you how to decide that, says McCarthy at a press conference following a speech he delivered to the Knesset plenum.

McCarthy says he expects US President Joe Biden to invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, but also says hell invite Netanyahu to Congress if no White House invitation is extended.

I expect the White House to invite the prime minister over for a meeting especially because of Israels 75th anniversary, says McCarthy following Bidens recent comments that Netanyahu would not be receiving an invite to Washington in the near future.

Asked if he stands by earlier comments that he would invite Netanyahu absent an invite from the president, McCarthy says it would be appropriate for the prime minister to visit, adding that such a trip would include bipartisan meetings with Republicans and Democrats from the House of Representatives.

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Thats why we started the Times of Israel eleven years ago - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.

So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we havent put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.

For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel

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McCarthy: Checks on power important to democracy, up to Israel to ... - The Times of Israel

The Center for Community Engagement is pleased to announce the launch of the Democracy Fellows Program at the U of A. This program is designed to support students in becoming more engaged in the democratic processandto improve access to voter information and registration.The program aims to foster the creation of a democratically engaged campus community at the U of A.

The Democracy Fellows group willconductprograms and events throughout the 2023-24 academic year, including voter registration drives, absentee ballot request drives and voter education events.The Democracy Fellows Program will befacilitatedby the Center for Community Engagement.

If you are interested in becoming a Democracy Fellow, please note that the application deadline is May 12.Submit an application.

As a Democracy Fellow, you will be charged with engaging your peers and helping them understand the importance ofparticipatingin democracy. You will conduct voter registration drives, absentee ballot request drives and voter education events during classes, events and student group meetings.

To be considered for the program, you must have a GPA of 2.0 or higher,demonstratea commitment to non-partisan voter education and be able to commit five to 10 hours a week to program delivery.Opportunities to volunteerwill begin in summer 2023, withthe majority ofprogramming to take place in the fall and spring semesters.Preference will be given to those who are enthusiastic about increasing democratic participation among U of A students, understand the importance of voting and otherwise being engaged in the democratic process and can articulate this to their peers.

Please apply to become a democracy fellow andhelp us create a democratically engaged campus community.Faculty and staff, please feel free to forward this on to students who you feel would be interested!If you have any questions about the program, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you for your interest in the Democracy Fellows Program.

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Deadline Extended: Democracy Fellows Application Deadline ... - University of Arkansas Newswire

Taiwan

Detention of publisher Li Yanhe in China for endangering national security has sent chills through islands literary community

Fri 28 Apr 2023 22.00 EDT

In a bookstore near one of Taipeis leading universities, Zeng Da-fu and his wife work quietly into the evening. Zeng has run this store for decades, tucked in a laneway behind a wall of crumbling posters. They sell books on history and politics and Chinese translations of foreign texts, mainly to students but also once to Taiwans president, Tsai Ing-wen, Zeng notes proudly. His work is crucial to the defence of Taiwans democracy, he says. This week that battle came close to home.

Zeng, 75, is also a big investor in Gusa Publishing, a company whose editor-in-chief, Li Yanhe, was this week revealed to be detained in China on national security accusations.

Li, also known by his pen-name Fucha, disappeared shortly after arriving in Shanghai to visit family last month. His detention by authorities was only revealed this week when a Taiwan-based Chinese poet and editor, Bei Ling, posted the news on social media, sending shock waves through Taiwan.

For days, Taiwans government would say only that he was safe and that his family had asked for privacy. Then on Thursday, Beijing confirmed that Li was detained, under investigation for conducting activities endangering national security.

Zeng and his wife know Li well.

Fucha is good and kind and wants to publish good books, but its hard in China because of censorship, he says.

The case has sent chills through the islands community of booksellers and writers, echoing previous cases of Chinese authorities targeting writers and disseminators of critical or politically sensitive literature Li was not even the only case this week. It also comes at a time of deepening authoritarianism in China, and escalating hostilities between Beijing and Taiwan.

Often, there is little to no detail of what those accused of endangering national security are supposed to have done. For Li, many assumed it relates to Gusas publishing of titles critical of the Chinese Communist party or discussing topics such as the Tiananmen Square massacre, human rights abuses of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and party corruption.

The Taiwan-based east Asia director for Reporters Without Borders, Cdric Alviani, joined global calls for his release, saying Li was one of the last Chinese publishers to still dare release investigative books critical to the regime.

Parallels have been drawn with the five Hong Kong booksellers who were disappeared from various global locations in 2015. One, Gui Minhai, remains in a Chinese jail serving a 10-year sentence on espionage charges. Another, Lam Wing-kee, reopened Causeway Bay Books in Taipei after he skipped bail and fled Hong Kong.

Lam told the Guardian Lis case served as a warning to the industry that publishing these books is a risk.

Li was born in China and worked for the Shanghai Literature & Art Publishing House, but in 2009 he moved to Taiwan, where he married, started a family, and launched Gusa Publishing. He had applied for citizenship in the Republic of China (Taiwans formal name), a process that required the Chinese national to return home and cancel his household registration.

Taiwans national security bureau says every Taiwanese citizen has to carefully know this situation, says Bei Ling. Its more risky. But they dont say: dont go into China.

Bei says he learned of Lis arrest from contacts he still has in China. He posted the information on Facebook. While Lis family appear to have sought to keep the case quiet, perhaps in the hopes it would help secure his release, Bei felt it was urgent to get as much international attention as possible.

In 2000, Bei was arrested in China over his work publishing works by Chinese dissidents and exiles. He knew nothing of the campaign for his release during those 15 days, which included press articles in the New York Times and editorials by Susan Sontag.

His brother was arrested for trying to get him freed, a fact Bei learned when they were both released at the same time. Bei was allowed to leave China for the US, becoming a citizen and later moving to Taiwan.

Speaking from his home in the mountains outside Taipei, he wonders what can be done now for Li. He says times were different when he was detained, especially US-China relations under Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin. Now, an outcome like his feels impossible.

He laments that Li was in detention at the same time the former Taiwanese president, Ma Ying-jeou visited the city, and Chinas leaders welcomed the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and a large business delegation.

Ma and his party have much warmer ties with Beijing than the current Taiwan administration, and Macron was warmly received by Xi Jinping. Had they known of Lis detention, this could have been a unique opportunity to lobby behind the scenes for his release, Bei says.

Taiwans government has said they are treating Li as a full citizen, but this will have no impact on Chinese authorities, who do not recognise the ROC as a country.

Beijing claims Taiwan as a Chinese province and is building its military capability to annex it if it wont surrender. Taiwan functions as an independent nation, with a democracy hard-won after decades of martial law that only ended in the 1980s. Zang says his and Lis work in bringing educational materials to young Taiwanese people is crucial to ensuring it continues.

Our generation can bear the risk to ensure the next generation is safe, he says. If I am afraid of the CCP I will live like the walking dead because I will lose the preciousness of life: having truth, justice and love.

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Publishing these books is a risk: Taiwans booksellers stand up for democracy - The Guardian