Former Congressman John Tanner (D-TN) was a cofounder of the Blue Dog Coalition and a leader in Congress advocating for a fiscally conservative agenda, specifically directed at balancing the budget and decreasing the nation’s debt burdenUnlike the shutdown that occurred in the mid-90s, which was based more on political calculations between Speaker Gingrich and President Clinton, this current event seems to be grounded in rigid ideology with little concern for the damage inflicted on the economy.This breakdown in the system has been building for years. The root cause, in my opinion, originated some 50 years ago (1962) in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Tennessee case of Baker v. Carr. In that opinion, the court held that the apportionment of legislative seats based on population count was a justiciable issue based on Constitutional principles of due process and equal protection. The Tennessee legislature had not reapportioned itself since 1901, and Shelby County, Tennessee was grossly underrepresented in the state capitol.The decision left the Congressional redistricting process to sitting members of the various state legislatures. Soon enough, it became the norm for Democrats and Republicans to collaborate to make their respective districts safer for their party and themselves. The result is some 350 seats out of 435 in the U.S. House that are non competitive in the November elections. Thus, the real election occurs in the party primary where the most strident and ideology-based vote of our country resides. The practical result is that members are trapped in a system where the real threat to their re-election is in primaries from the extreme right or left, thus limiting their ability to seek the sensible center to govern. One hears terms like “RINO” or “traitor” when a member enters the area of compromise in order to move the county ahead.We are now witnessing the end result of this phenomenon called “gerrymandering.” The net effect has been to place a parliamentary model on a representative system and the system cannot function under such circumstances. Unlike parliamentary governments where accommodations of other viewpoints on matters of public policy are unnecessary, (the majority runs the country up to five years at a time without the need to compromise with the opposition) our system not only encourages, but demands a certain give and take among competing ideas in order to work.Until we as a people understand that fundamental, and demand change, (i.e. independent commissions to draw State House and Senate and U.S. Congressional seats) it is difficult to be very hopeful that we can escape this crisis management of our common destiny as citizens of the United States.The ultimate test will come in two weeks on the debt ceiling issue. We will then know if members of Congress can rise above their own political and personal interests and act in the interest of the nation.John has been a long time proponent of redistricting reform, introducing legislation while in Congress that would end political gerrymandering by nationalizing standards for congressional districting and take away redistricting power from state Legislatures. He authored a March 2012 article in the Stanford Law & Policy Review March 2012 entitled “Drawing voters back into the electoral process: why and how. “