The political standoff in Texas, USA is not merely a state-level crisis. It is a window into a broader, intensifying struggle over the rules of democratic engagement in the United States. At the centre of this clash is redistricting, the once-in-a-decade process of redrawing congressional boundaries to reflect population changes. Yet, in today’s hyper-polarised political climate, this routine administrative task has become a tool of strategic warfare, and both major parties appear willing to push it to the brink.

In Texas, the effort by Republican lawmakers to redraw district lines in a way that would secure five additional seats for the party in the US House has led to dramatic scenes: Democratic state legislators fleeing Texas to block the vote, while the governor has called for their arrest and levied daily fines. Beneath the theatrics lies a fundamental truth ~ redistricting has become one of the most consequential and contentious arenas........

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