The document summarizes discussions from a legislative class on July 3rd about redistricting and gerrymandering. It provides announcements about assignments due and links to articles on the impacts and examples of gerrymandering. It discusses majority-minority districts and court rulings, and provides examples of gerrymandered districts in North Carolina, Maryland, and Texas. It also summarizes research arguing that gerrymandering is not the primary cause of decreased political competition and that increased partisan polarization and financial advantages of incumbency have played a larger role.
ICT Role in 21st Century Education & its Challenges.pptx
Day 6 - Districting in the House (Part 2)
1. DAY 6 – DISTRICTING
IN THE HOUSE
(CONT‟D.)
July 3, 2013
2. Announcements
Fill out survey on which state you prefer to study
in your legislative portfolio.
https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0TdRZT
fxQqVeU3r
Current Events Essay #1 due on TUESDAY.
Look over rubric and sample essay in Assignments
folder.
Check with me if you have questions about the article
you selected.
Article should focus on topics we‟ve covered in the
course.
Elections
Institutionalization
Concepts of Representation and Responsiveness
3. Results If Plan Were Adopted
Nationwide
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/republican-vote-rigging-electoral-college_n_2546010.html
Pennsylvania Breakdown - http://www.politico.com/2012-election/map/#/President/2012/PA
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/11/07/1159631/americans-voted-for-a-democratic-house-gerrymandering-the-supreme-court-gave-them-speaker-
boehner/
5. Gerrymandering
District line-drawing
that purposefully
maximizes seats for
one party or voting
bloc.
Types of
gerrymandering
Partisan
Pro-Incumbent
Majority-minority
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=9RtKwhd6
6. Majority-Minority Districts
Before VRA, “blacks were systematically
„packed‟ into or „cracked‟ across congressional
districts to weaken their influence” (DOL p.53)
What are the pros and cons of majority-
minority districts?
How have the courts ruled?
14. Abramowitz et al. (2006)
Test three
hypotheses to
explain the decline
of competition in
U.S. House races
Redistricting
Hypothesis
Partisan Polarization
Hypothesis
Incumbency
Hypothesis
15. Conclusions
Declining
competition
explained by:
A shift in the
partisan composition
of House districts.
But most of the
change is occurring
between redistricting
cycles.
Decline in ability of
challengers to
compete financially.
NOTE: Challengers classified as financially
competitive if they accounted for at least 40 percent of
combined challenger and incumbent spending. High-
risk districts are those in which vote percentage of vote
for presidential candidate of incumbent‟s party is less
than national percentage.