The Impact of Gerrymandering on American Representation

This guide considers the causes and penalties of partisan gerrymandering within the U.S. Home. The Supreme Court docket’s determination in
Vieth v. Jubelirer (2004) made difficult a district plan on floor of partisan gerrymandering virtually not possible. By way of a rigorous scientific evaluation of US Home district maps, the authors argue that partisan bias elevated dramatically within the 2010 redistricting spherical after the
Vieth determination, each on the nationwide and state degree. From a constitutional perspective, unrestrained partisan gerrymandering poses a important menace to a central pillar of American democracy — standard sovereignty. State legislatures now successfully decide the political composition of the US Home. The guide solutions the Court docket’s problem to discover a new normal for gerrymandering that’s each constitutionally grounded and legally manageable. It argues that the scientifically rigorous partisan symmetry measure is an acceptable authorized normal for partisan gerrymandering, as it’s a obligatory situation of particular person equality and might be virtually utilized.