Congressional Redistricting

Congressional Redistricting PDF Author: David Butler
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description

Congressional Redistricting

Congressional Redistricting PDF Author: David Butler
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description


Lines in the Sand

Lines in the Sand PDF Author: Steve Bickerstaff
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292783051
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 485

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Book Description
The events of 2003 in Texas were important to the political history of this country. Congressman Tom DeLay led a Republican effort to gerrymander the state's thirty-two congressional districts to defeat all ten of the Anglo Democratic incumbents and to elect more Republicans; Democratic state lawmakers fled the state in an effort to defeat the plan. The Lone Star State uproar attracted attention worldwide. The Republicans won this showdown, gaining six additional seats from Texas and protecting the one endangered Republican incumbent. Some of the methods used by DeLay to achieve this result, however, led to his criminal indictment and ultimately to his downfall. With its eye-opening research, readable style, and insightful commentary, Lines in the Sand provides a front-line account of what happened in 2003, often through the personal stories of members of both parties and of the minority activist groups caught in a political vortex. Law professor Steve Bickerstaff provides much-needed historical perspective and also probes the aftermath of the 2003 redistricting, including the criminal prosecutions of DeLay and his associates and the events that led to DeLay's eventual resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives. As a result, Bickerstaff graphically shows a dark underside of American politics—the ruthless use of public institutional power for partisan gain.

The Political Battle over Congressional Redistricting

The Political Battle over Congressional Redistricting PDF Author: William J. Miller
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 073916984X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 462

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Book Description
John Engler, former Governor of Michigan, once claimed that redistricting is one of the purest actions a legislative body can take. Academicians and political leaders alike, however, have regularly debated the ideal way by to redistrict national and state legislatures. Rather than being the pure process that Governor Engler envisioned, redistricting has led to repeated court battles waged on such traditional democratic values as one person, one vote, and minority rights. Instead of being an opportunity to help ensure maximum representation for the citizens, the process has become a cat and mouse game in many states with citizen representation seemingly the farthest idea from anyone’s mind. From a purely political perspective, those in power in the state legislature at the time of redistricting largely act like they have unilateral authority to do as they please. In this volume, contributors discuss why such an assumption is concerning in the modern political environment.

Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering PDF Author: Franklin L. Kury
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0761870261
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 133

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Book Description
In the spring of 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court will render a decision in the Wisconsin gerrymandering case that could have a revolutionary impact on American politics and how legislative representation is chosen. Gerrymandering! A Guide to Congressional Redistricting, Dark Money and the Supreme Court is a unique explanation to understand and act on the Court’s decision, whatever it may be. After describing the importance of legislative representation, the book describes the anatomy of a redistricting n Pennsylvania. That is followed by a review of legislative redistricting in American history and the Supreme Court’s role throughout. The book relates what has happened to the efforts to bring changes to redistricting through the legislatures, including the unseen but omnipresent use of dark money to oppose reforms. The penultimate chapter analyzes the Wisconsin case now pending in the Supreme Court and concludes that anyone relying on the Court’s decision is relying on a firm maybe. Following the text is a Citizen’s Toolbox with which readers throughout the country can evaluate the redistricting situation in their states. The Toolbox is replete with useful information gerrymandering. There are numerous books that tell how bad gerrymandering is, but my book is different, much different. Unlike the others, this book analyzes gerrymandering as developed through the force of history, the hardball politics of state legislatures and scantily disclosed campaign expenditures to maintain it, and the daunting legal challenge for those who want the Supreme Court to adopt a new national standard for determining when gerrymandering is unconstitutional as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The daunting challenges is to show the Court that a mathematical formula, such as the efficiency gap formula, is a valid method to measure violations of the 14th amendment’s guarantee that every citizen be given equal protection of the law.

Partisan Gerrymandering and the Construction of American Democracy

Partisan Gerrymandering and the Construction of American Democracy PDF Author: Erik J. Engstrom
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 047211901X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
Since the nation’s founding, the strategic manipulation of congressional districts has influenced American politics and public policy

Redistricting

Redistricting PDF Author: Charles S. Bullock
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 153814963X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
A 2022 Choice Reviews Outstanding Academic Title This authoritative overview of election redistricting at the congressional, state legislative, and local level provides offers an overview of redistricting for students and practitioners. The updated second edition pays special attention to the significant redistricting controversies of the last decade, from the Supreme Court to state courts.

Increasing the Membership of the House of Representatives and Redistricting Congressional Districts

Increasing the Membership of the House of Representatives and Redistricting Congressional Districts PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, 1789-1983

The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, 1789-1983 PDF Author: Kenneth C. Martis
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
ISBN: 9780029201503
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Party Lines

Party Lines PDF Author: Thomas E. Mann
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815797923
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 141

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Book Description
The legitimacy of the American electoral system depends on sustaining reasonable levels of fairness, accountability, responsiveness, and common sense. Recent Congressional elections fly in the face of those requirements, however, with a startling lack of competition, growing ideological polarization, and a fierce struggle between the parties to manipulate the electoral rules of the game. Party Lines addresses these problems head on in an authoritative and timely analysis of redistricting in the United States. The practice of state legislatures redrawing district lines after the decennial census has long been a controversial aspect of our governing system. Recent developments have added new urgency to earlier debates. The sorry spectacle of mid-decade partisan gerrymandering in Texas renewed public attention to the potential problems of redistricting, reinforcing the view that it is unfairly dominated by self-serving elected officials and parties. The perfunctory character of Congressional elections is another growing problem—in 2002, only four House incumbents were defeated in the general election, the lowest in American history. Despite a hotly contested presidential contest in 2004, that number increased by only three. In Pa rty Lines, eminent political analysts explain the legal and political history of redistricting since the one person–one vote revolution in the 1960s and place it in the larger context of American politics. The authors document the impact of redistricting on competition, polarization, and partisan fairness, and they assess the role technology played in the redistricting process. The final chapter analyzes options for reform, including most importantly the use of independent redistricting commissions as an alternative to the normal state legislative process. Redistricting reform is no panacea but it is a start toward ensuring that American voters still have the largest say in who will represent them. Contributors include Micah

Ratf**ked

Ratf**ked PDF Author: David Daley
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1631493213
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
David Daley’s “extraordinarily timely” (New York Times Book Review) account uncovers the fundamental rigging of our House of Representatives and state legislatures nationwide. Lauded as a “compelling” (The New Yorker) and “eye-opening tour of a process that many Americans never see” (Washington Post), David Daley’s Ratf**ked documents the effort of Republican legislators and political operatives to hack American democracy through an audacious redistricting plan called REDMAP. Since the revolutionary election of Barack Obama, a group of GOP strategists has devised a way to flood state races with a gold rush of dark money, made possible by Citizens United, in order to completely reshape Congress—and our democracy itself. “Sobering and convincing” (New York Review of Books), Ratf**ked shows how this program has radically altered America’s electoral map and created a firewall in the House, insulating the Republican party and its wealthy donors from popular democracy. While exhausted voters recover from a grueling presidential election, a new Afterword from the author explores the latest intense efforts by both parties, who are already preparing for the next redistricting cycle in 2020.