Madisonian Republicanism has a showdown with Progressivism in the Arizona redistricting case

Last week oral arguments began at the Supreme Court on the state of Arizona’s use of an independent commission to conduct the redistricting process once every decade, with the state’s Republican-led legislature arguing that the commission is unconstitutional. Keith Gaddie writes that the disagreement centers on the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the term ‘legislature’, with those who are against the reform supporting a Madisonian interpretation that the legislature is solely the representative body, and not the legislative process. He argues that if the Supreme Court finds for the Arizona legislature, this will invest substantial power in state legislatures, and limit people’s ability to determine where political power should reside in their states.