Does Redistricting Make a Difference?: Partisan Representation and Electoral Behavior - Couverture rigide

Rush, Mark E.

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0801845793 ISBN 13 : 9780801845796

Editeur : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993

Synopsis

In 1812, the Jeffersonian-dominated Massachusetts legislature, with the approval of Governor Elbridge Gerry, split Essex County in an effort to dilute the strength of the Federalists. Noting the resemblance of the new, oddly-shaped district to a well-known amphibian, a local newspaper dubbed the creation a "gerrymander". Less well known about this episode of American history, writes political scientist Mark Rush, is its outcome: in the ensuing election, the Federalists won the district anyway. Today, political divisive redistricting - gerrymandering to some - still causes bitter reapportionment disputes, renewed threats of class action lawsuits and legislative wrangling. In this book, Rush offers a sceptical inquiry into this controversy and a critical assessment of the assumptions underlying current analyses of the redistricting process. He focuses on long-term voting results in redrawn districts and concludes that redistricting - at least given present criteria and guidelines - has little impact. By showing how difficult it is to perpetrate a successful partisan gerrymander, Rush challenges the notion that an electorate can be organized into Democratic and Republican "groups". He further questions the validity of current political research - and highly-paid political consulting - undertaken on the assumption that such organization is feasible.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Date d'édition: 1993
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0801845793
• ISBN 13: 9780801845796
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 232
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible