Last week's elections received the most press for the fact that Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, but those majorities could be turned around in two years. Perhaps the more lasting result comes in Republican control of state legislatures throughout the country. With the population shifts shown next month by the 2010 Census comes the decennial tradition of gerrymandering districts for electoral gain. In eight of the seventeen states expected to gain or lose Congressional seats (and thus be required to redraw district lines), Republicans enjoy total control of the branches involved in drawing new districts. In seven, power is divided between parties or given to a non-partisan commission. In just two states do Democrats wield the right to draw districts. One of those -- Massachusetts -- is unlikely to send many Republicans to Congress regardless of how the districts are drawn.
For Republicans, a good year in 2010 might have locked in a decade of electoral advantages.
Although not totally data-driven, the ReDistricting Game provides a dramatic example of the ways in which gerrymandering can give one party an electoral advantage unwarranted by the voters.
Unknown
About TeachingwithData.org
TeachingWithData.org is a partnership between the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN), both at the University of Michigan. The project is funded by NSF Award 0840642, George Alter (ICPSR), PI and William Frey (SSDAN), co-PI.
Translate
Search This Blog
Popular Posts
-
A study recently featured in the Journal of Comparative Economics examines income inequality in urban China. Capital income increased d...
-
If you’ve hit the point in the semester where your classes have fallen into routines and you’d like to spice things up a bit, this webinar i...
-
A recent post on the Economist’s Graphic Detail blog includes a global map of cigarette smokers in 2010, as reported by the American Cance...
-
According to the Washington Post, since 2009, the unemployment rate in the United States has dropped by 50% . The traditional...
-
The month of March signaled the beginning of National Women’s History Month, as well as the annual Oscar Awards ceremony, which was held on...
No comments :
Post a Comment