President Barack Obama has been compared to former President Franklin Roosevelt. This causes conservatives to cringe.Following FDR’s 12-year tenure, the country was changed forever. The federal government was bigger, and there were fewer personal freedoms.Since the days of the constitutional convention, a struggle has existed between those forces advocating for greater centralization and more governmental control and those who favored greater local power.Roosevelt signaled an end to the debate as the powers for centralization won out in the 1930s. After Roosevelt, personal liberty and individual rights have taken a back seat to the preservation of group rights.Politicians use rhetoric to segregate the American people into discernible groups and legislate according to the interests of the groups who support them. The Democrats have minorities, unions and environmentalists while the Republicans have social conservatives, gun owners and capitalists.There is no consideration given to those of us who don’t fit neatly into these recognizable categories. “Moderates” are the perpetual outsiders.Nowhere is this more evident than the method used to draw congressional districts.Gerrymandering will play a critical role in Louisiana following next year’s census. Louisiana is expected to lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and the districts will — by necessity — be redrawn.When a state gains or loses a seat in Congress, it is the duty of the state Legislature to draw new districts.This is an inherently political process. Politicians are drawing political districts that will elect other politicians. Undoubtedly, some of the legislators involved in redistricting will have their own ideas about who should sit behind the desks in the Capitol.Take for example Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional district — William Jefferson’s former district.The seat was intended to be held by a Democrat. The Republican who currently occupies it is expected to be defeated in the next election.The Louisiana State Capitol Building has been heavily populated by Democratic legislators for most of its history. When Congressional districts were drawn up in the past, they tended to favor Democrats.But there is hope. The process will always be political, but some are taking a stand.Last Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a North Carolina Supreme Court decision by a vote of 5-4 that declared a congressional district in violation of the law and decided it must be redrawn.The district was drawn for minority voters to constitute a majority in the district. But it cut across counties.A North Carolina law called the “Whole County Provision” mandates a county cannot be split between two different congressional districts. Defenders of the congressional district claimed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 superseded the law in North Carolina and the district was thus legal. The Supreme Court ruled the state law was not in violation of the Voting Rights Act and, thus, the district was improperly drawn.As Louisiana legislators begin the process of remapping the state congressional districts, they will inevitably look to gain a political advantage for their party and perhaps themselves.But the recent Supreme Court ruling gives hope to those who believe we’re not a conglomeration of distinct groups but a nation of individuals.Instead of drawing districts favoring certain segments of the population, the legislators should strive for districts that represent the attitudes of Louisiana’s voters most appropriately.But that may be too much to ask from term-limited politicians who may be looking for their next job.Drew Walker is a 24-year-old philosophy senior from Walker.—-Contact Drew Walker at [email protected]