I think everyone here is familiar with the Flint water crisis, but another diarist noted that this is part of a larger issue, the assault on democratic accountabity in Michigan due to aggressive gerrymandering and the emergency manager law, as well as the overturning of popular ballot initiatives by the GOP legislature.
I didn't realize it was so bad until the diarist pointed out that the GOP has consistently lost the popular votes but maintained legislative majorities through multiple elections. Occasional cases of this could be attributed to quirks in the system, but its persistence over multiple election cycles points to a systemic problem.
Are Michigan voters helpless to address this? Perhaps at the state level, they are. But the Constitution GUARANTEES each state a ‘republican form of government.’ It seems clear to me that this is meant to prevent individual states from sinking into petty dictatorships, kingdoms, people's republics, single-party states, oligarchies or whatnot just because some local powers can do it. It seems to me the Michigan situation is approaching those conditions and it would be worthwhile for residents to lauch a constitutional challenge to the Michigan state of affairs.
Am I off base, or is there a case?