Gerrymandering: United States House of Representatives and Election District Boundaries

Michael Effiom Prof. S. Sharifan Govt 2302-73058 butt against 4, 2013 divideing The main purpose of gerrymandering is to increase the number of legislative pose that give the sack be won by the political split upy which is in mien of redrawing the regularise boundaries during that period of time, and to create safe seating area for the companionships incumbent legislators which are seats in which the incumbent lead evermore win re-election. Gerrymandering is the redrawing of election district boundaries to give an electoral advantage to a particular candidate or party. It has been recognized as a part of the American political landscape since 1812.The term derives from a redrawing of US model districts in Massachusetts before the 1812 elections, when Elbridge Gerry was governor. People said the district was redolent(p) of a salamander and thus the term Gerry-mander was coined. The Constitution requires that representation in the House of Representatives be apportioned to states on the basis of population. So, every decennary years we count up the number of people living in for each(prenominal) one state and making sure that each state gets at least one House member, divide up the rest of the seats among the states equally. articulates with large populations get a bigger amount of house seats smaller states get just the one. A variety of Supreme approach cases, however, have applied the 14th Amendments equal protection article to the work at of drawing legislative districts resulting in a requirement that each district have roughly the same population. So after each Census, states and localities have to redraw their district lines to ensure that the districts are roughly equal. This process redrawing of district lines has been blamed for almost every problem in American politics. The redistricting process therefore became a target for political reformers.In 2008, Californians enacted Prop. 11 and created the Citizens Redistricting Commission (C RC). State legislators would no longer be able to pick their own constituents. An breakaway commission would be in charge of drawing the lines for the Assembly and Senate. In 2010, the CRCs mandate was expanded to include House districts as well. The party in control of redistricting can weaken its oppositeness by wadding or cracking. Packing is to concentrate as many voters of the opposition party into a single electoral district to reduce their play in voting in separate districts.In some cases, this may be done to obtain representation for a community of common affair thus creating i. e. a minority group (Blacks or Hispanics) what is called a majority-minority district. snap is the spreading out of opposition voters across numerous safe districts which will dilute their voting percentage and its effect on the outcome. If representatives are demand to be residents of their districts, redistricting may redraw the boundary to exclude his/her house, or draw them into a distri ct where they will lose the next election.Gerrymandering is a very solemn problem. Effective gerrymanders can have significant policy implications. In California, for example, it makes a difference whether there are 23 or 24 Republicans in the Senate. If there are 23, Republicans cant stop Democratic efforts to pilfer taxes. If there are 24, Republicans can. By pre-determining election outcomes, gerrymandering makes actual voting less(prenominal) consequential, and therefore it should discourage voter turnout, but because of a lack of consciousness on the subject voter turnout is not significantly affected.Any variations in voter turnout mostly depend on voter age, income, education, go and ethnicity. Since voter turnouts include many races for offices in various regions, some of which may rattling be closely-contested, one or two foregone conclusions on the ballot will not diminish voter interest in other races. An effective way of combating gerrymandering is to follow the ex ample of California and enact something like to prop. 11 which will give the responsibility of redrawing the district line to indie non-partisan groups.This will remove partisan machinations from the drawing process and remove the below the belt advantage that incumbents have over challengers to their seats. Sources Cited * Humphreys. M. 2009. Can compactness constrain the Gerrymander? http//www. columbia. edu/mh2245/papers1/gerry. pdf * Smith, Kieth. On Gerrymandering and Its Effects. Web log post. Political Science at University of the Pacific. Pacificpoliticalscience. wordpress. com, 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 04 Mar. 2013.