There are other purposes and goals that go much farther and have more debilitating effects upon democracy.

One of these has been the aim of creating as many safe districts as possible. Not only for the majority party in a state, but also for members of the minority party! In effect, the practice creates job security for professional politicians, at the expense of competitive elections all across the United States.

Out of 435 seats in the US House of Representatives, only a couple of dozen are considered “open” or truly competitive in Campaign 2006, with both Democrat and Republican starting even, ready to be judged primarily on the basis of policies, politics and personality.

Here is a partial index of the articles written by Dr. Brin thus far.

1. The worst insult to 21st century liberty: ... the Gerrymander Gambit
2. Gerrymandering at the surface: ...the “harmless” way it’s generally portrayed
3. Hidden Goals of Gerrymandering: ...protect politicians from fickle voters

Many argue for the implementation of term limits to address the ills of lifetime politicians who remain detached from the public interest, but this issue of redistricting and carving up safe districts (and the minority party equally eager to accept "for sure" slots at the expense of sacrificing chance to gain a majority of seats for their party) disenfranchises the average American voter.