Identify and discuss two political consequences that could result from redistricting. Cracking, packing, and gerrymandering are all words used in redistricting to describe how. When does political gerrymandering cross a constitutional. Cracking reduces the voting power of a certain party or community by splitting its population and spreading its members among several districts where they become an irrelevant minority. In redistricting, cracking refers to the practice of drawing electoral districts that divide the population of a community or constituency across several districts. In this plan, democrats can really push their luck and draw three districts of democrats and 12 republicans and one district of one democrat and 24 republicans. One way this is done is by drawing lines to cluster the oppositions voters into one or a few districts, which is known as packing. If redistricting was about to occur in the near future, this would give a strong. Packing redistricting in which partisan voters are concentrated in a single district to minimize the number of elections they can influence in other districts wesberry v.
Gerrymandering, the practice of drawing districts to favor one political party, skews election results, makes races less competitive, hurts communities of color, and thwarts the will of the voters. The parties to the wisconsin case and we in the general public know some of the effects of packing, cracking and tricks in redistricting. With cracking, you dilute an areas voting power by slicing up its congressional representation. Packing opposing parties voters into one district, so opposing will win, but other districts will be safe. In the 2012 congressional elections, for example, republicans won 53 percent of the popular vote but carried three out of four house seats in. In doing so, the influence of the community or constituency may be reduced, preventing the group from forming a voting block within any single district sufficient to elect the groups preferred candidates. The manipulations employed standard gerrymandering techniques, known as packing and cracking. Describe the types of occupations that texas legislators tend to have in order to serve as a member of the legislature.
The classic in mission two you experience the classic abuse of the redistricting system. The process of gerrymandering is accomplished primarily through two methods. Given the charges of statewide packing and cracking. Some people see this as electing a candidate representing the real philosophical base of the party. The word gerrymander comes from a famous case of redistricting in massachusetts in 1812. The consequences of the supreme courts punt on gerrymandering. However, since human intervention is still allowed, the gerrymandering issues of packing and cracking would still occur, just to a lesser extent. This is the condition in which electoral districts have differing ratios of voters to representatives. Study 47 terms political science flashcards quizlet. Spreading voters of one type over many districts where they will. In newly captured districts created by cracking, serious challengers require extra fundraising prowess just to meet parity with their gerrymandered incumbents money that is less likely to come from citizen. The congressional redistricting plans put forward in california after the 2000 census worked across party lines in order to entrench the electoral safety of the states representatives. Gerrymandering at northwest missouri state university. House races and about 4,700 state house and assembly seats up for election last year using a new statistical method of.
Packing concentrates opposition voters in fewer districts to reduce the number of seats they can win. The predictive power and capture of campaign finance colludes with gerrymandering, whether via cracking or packing. Redistricting or reapportionment, as it is called, must be done every 10 years after the u. Here are the colorful, and telling, terms used by insiders. Chapter 72 describe the types of occupations that texas. Packing involves concentrating as many voters from the minority party as possible in one. The two principle tactics used in gerrymandering are cracking and packing. Start studying redistricting, reapportionment, and gerrymandering. Partisan gerrymandering challenges to redistricting plans, like racial bias challenges, allege violation of the equal protection clause. When an increase in arrests of crack cocaine dealers led to an increase in the arrests of. This would be the most gerrymandered of all the plans that a party could draw. The great gerrymander of 2012 came 200 years after the first use of this curious word, which comes from the salamandershaped districts signed into law by governor elbridge gerry of massachusetts. A 2015 report from simon jackman, then a political scientist at stanford and an expert witness for the plaintiffs, found that a third of all redistricting. Start studying government 9th chapter 5 section 1 quiz.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. At the heart of the issue is whether the common techniques of cracking and packing diluting an opposing partys clout by either spreading its supporters out to prevent a majority on the district level cracking or concentrating them in fewer districts packing has a. By definition, gerrymandering is the division of an area into political units so as to give special advantages to one group over others. There are two major strategies involved in gerrymandering. Another is by drawing lines to diffuse the oppositions political strongholds, which is known as cracking. The supreme court should steer clear of gerrymandering cases. Fair would be 6 representatives from party a and 4 from b. The results suggest that gerrymandering, which involves the use of packing and cracking strategies in different districts, can be employed to undermine the aggregate electoral performance of the. The boundaries produced by gerrymandering can seem bizarre. Packing a form of redistricting in which as many voters of one type are concentrated in a single electoral district to reduce their influence in other districts. Tactics such as packing black voters into a given district or cracking them to make black voters a minority in all districts can be illegal. Since americas population is both fastergrowing and more mobile than that of other old democracies, and since the voting rights act actually requires minorities to have special majorityminority districts in order to get an equal chance to elect. Every 10 years, california redraws the lines of our political landscape.
Malapportionment 1 is fairly easy to detect even if there are a number of different ways of measuring it. Citizen advocacy center congressional redistricting. Urban residents in austin certainly share some common concerns in austin, but they are cracked between 5 different members of congress. Drafters accomplish it mainly through two practices commonly called packing and cracking.
Opinion the great gerrymander of 2012 the new york times. Explain the relationship between redistricting and the united states census. It would mostly eliminate bent districts, but still permit long, straight ones. Party primaries in packed districts tend to elect candidates at the extremes of their party. After such a redistricting, each district must have almost equal numbers of people. Redistricting, reapportionment, and gerrymandering quizlet. Racial gerrymandering i racial gerrymandering originally referred to manipulating legislative district lines to underrepresent racial minorities. Redistricting is the process of drawing boundaries for electoral and political districts in the u. The cooperation between californias democrats and republicans was due in large part to the unique pressures the state places on its representatives, such as.
Government 9th chapter 5 section 1 quiz flashcards quizlet. Packing concentrates voters of one party or community in as few districts as possible to reduce their influence in the remaining districts. Packing means massing the bulk of the opposing partys voters into a very few districts, which are effectively conceded to opposing party candidates. Constitution requires each representative in congress represent an equal number of citizens and mandates a census to determine the number of citizens and apportion seats to each state. The essence of a partisan gerrymander is manipulating district lines around a set of voters that will elect your partys candidate. Its just redistricting if it does not include an unfair advantage to whoever draws the district lines. Redistricting is a hardknuckled game, in which voters often lose. Apportionment and gerrymandering learn with flashcards, games, and more for free. Gerrymandering definition and examples in politics. When partisanship is obvious in the redistricting process, a manipulative process known as gerrymandering often comes into play. Gerrymandering, or how drawing irregular lines can impact an election. What are the 2 different types of gerrymandering answers.
Cracking a form of redistricting that involves spreading out voters of a particular type among many districts in order to deny them a sufficiently large voting block in any particular district. Gerrymandering, packing, cracking, reapportionment, and redistricting. What does it mean for the legislative redistricting board to be exofficio. Spreading likeminded voters apart across multiple districts to dilute their voting power in each. Gerrymandering, or how drawing irregular lines can impact.
There are two main strategies behind gerrymandering, packing and cracking. Fdrs courtpacking bill is an example of a presidential action designed to. These district lines can strengthen or diminish you and your communities voice in washington, sacramento, or downtown. Gerrymandering can be accomplished using a few different tactics. Whether employed by back room dealers or conceived of as an algorithmic panacea, this is a notion of gis as opaque. Partisan or political gerrymandering is the drawing of electoral district lines in a manner that discriminates against a political party. Dividing up an opposing parties voters into as many districts as possible, to dilute their vote. Plan 4 democrats packing and cracking republican areas. Ap analysis shows how gerrymandering benefited gop in 2016. Concentrating partisan voters in a single district, wasting their. Redrawing the map on redistricting 2010 a national study. The public is largely shut out of the process, wrote erika l. Packing is when congressional district lines are drawn to include as many of the opposing partys voters as possible in one district in order to make the remaining districts more likely to elect people from the party drawing the lines, while cracking is when the opposing partys voters are divided up into separate districts to weaken their voting strength.