Monday, October 28, 2019

Reapportionment, Redistricting, and Gerrymandering

Announcements:
QUIZ over House & Senate differences today!
READING: 309-325 in Edwards
UNIT TWO IDENTIFICATION TERMS
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Today's Essential Question: What is the political impact that reapportionment, redistricting, and gerrymandering have on Congressional elections and policymaking?

Learning Standards:
  • CON-3.C: Explain how congressional behavior is influenced by election processes, partisanship, and divided government.
  • CON-3.C.1: Congressional behavior and governing effectiveness are influenced by: 
    • Ideological divisions within Congress that can lead to gridlock or create the need for negotiation and compromise 
    • Gerrymandering, redistricting, and unequal representation of constituencies have been partially addressed by such Court decisions as Baker v. Carr (1961), which opened the door to equal protection challenges to redistricting and stated the “one person, one vote” doctrine, and the no-racial gerrymandering decision in Shaw v. Reno (1993) 
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Reapportionment, Redistricting, and Gerrymandering

Typically, we think that the voters are the ones that choose our elected officials. But, in actuality, it is the elected officials who are often the ones choosing the voters through a process known as gerrymandering. Over the next couple of days, we are going to take a look at reapportionment, redistricting, and gerrymandering.

What do you notice different about these two maps?

2002-2012 Missouri Congressional Districts


2012-2022 Missouri Congressional Districts



How did the 2010 Census impact Missouri's Congressional districts?

Reapportionment: the redistribution of Congressional seats (districts) based on the US Census results every ten years


Which states are expected to gain seats/lose seats after the 2020 census?

Redistricting: The redrawing of Congressional districts every ten years (typically by state legislatures). Redistricting plans must follow certain federal guidelines, including relatively equal population, as well as consideration of race and ethnicity-no "packing or cracking".

One major Supreme Court case, Baker v. Carr (1961) dealt with the redistricting issue and whether the Court could rule on the question of whether districts had to be of relatively equal populations. Use the Street Law summary of Baker v. Carr to fill out the Supreme Court Case template.

Read the following articles to find out more about redistricting.

US Census Apportionment Video

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing :)
    I have got much informative data through your blog, keep sharing...


    Kurnool Congress Party Leader

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