The 2010 Midterm Elections

Signs and Portents for the Decennial Redistricting

Bibliographic Data

ID12379992
AuthorsMichael P Mcdonald (0000-0002-3717-4405, George Mason University, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume44
Issue2
Pages311-315
Publication date2011-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePS Political Science & Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-0965 • E-ISSN: 1537-5935
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s104909651100014x
OpenAlexW2108692318
LanguageEN
References cited6

The 2010 midterm elections are consequential not only in terms of the candidates who were elected to office, but also in terms of the government policies that they will enact. High on the list of important policies is the decennial practice of drawing new redistricting plans for legislative offices. A new census reveals population shifts that will result in a reallocation of congressional seats among the states through apportionment and—following U.S. Supreme Court rulings in the 1960s—a re-balancing of congressional and state legislative district populations within states that aims to give fast-growing areas more representation and slow-growing areas less. Of course, much more than an innocuous administrative adjustment occurs during the process of redistricting. The individuals who draw districts are keenly aware that district lines may affect the fortunes of incumbents, political parties, and minority voters' candidates of choice

Apportionment · Census · Economics · Gerrymandering · Government (linguistics · Legislature · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Redistricting · Representation (politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Supreme court · Computer Science · Demography · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Public Administration

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