Two: “Redistricting and Gerrymandering”
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Use and cite the given sources in the assignment, as evidence or examples to support your answers.
The following questions are essay questions, please use complete sentences and avoid short answers.
Minimum five to six paragraphs long! Five to six sentences for each paragraph.
“Article I of the Constitution requires that Congress undertake a census of the country every ten years so seats in the House of Representatives may be reapportioned to reflect changes in state populations. When a state gains or loses seats in the House, or when the former opposition party takes control of a state legislature, this typically leads to redistricting. Redistricting is the redrawing of electoral boundaries for House districts within a state. According to the US Supreme Court decision Baker v. Carr (1962), electoral districts for the House must be drawn as closely as possible to reflect the principle of one-person-one-vote. In other words, House electoral districts should have equal populations.”
“A potential downside of redistricting is the opportunity to redraw districts to favor one political party over another. The use of redistricting for political advantage is known as gerrymandering. Gerrymandering typically disregards such non-political features as natural communities or geography and instead aims to maximize the number of seats a particular party is likely to win in the next election. Gerrymandering can be used to create safe seats in which the opposition has virtually no chance of winning. The creation of safe seats explains why incumbents enjoy an often crushing advantage over challengers when running for reelection.” (chapter 11/Lesson 5 Congress)
After reading the assigned articles and watching the videos, please answer the following questions.
- What does it mean to make a district “compact�? Why is making compact districts important?
- What are “cracking� and “packing�?
- The Voting Rights Act of 1965 forbids “dilution� of the votes of people of color. Why do you think Congress made this kind of racial gerrymandering illegal?
- How does Gerrymandering impact elections and representation?
- Does Gerrymandering undermine democracy by letting legislators, who are supposed to be democratically elected, choose their voters instead?
- What reforms in redrawing the district lines, would make the legislature more representative?
(for more information, Click on Lessons/Assignment button on your course menu and see, Chapter Eleven: Lesson five/ Article five)
Click Here: What is Redistricting?
An Algorithm to Detect Gerrymandering
Lesson of the Day: A Gerrymandering Game