Essay 13

Congressional reapportionment is conducted every ten years and is very important to ensure power is evenly distributed based on population and to make sure some states aren't over represented while others are underrepresented. When the Census is done, it is found that the population of each state changes. Some may gain people while others may lose people. Since the population changes, the amount of representatives must also change to better represent the people. Since congressmen aren't added or removed, they must be reappointed. This happens when the congress men or women from one district are moved to another with more people. This way the area with a higher population is better represented while a area with a lower population isn't over represented.

Congressional redistricting is the process of drawing new lines to create different districts where one party is the majority. This eliminates any one party becoming the minority and being unfairly represented. These lines can be cleverly drawn and are changed every ten years along with the census. If each district has a clear majority, and all the districts compete, an accurate representation of the states stand as a whole can be made.

The goal of politicians when they gerrymander is to re-do districts to give certain parties clear advantages. By drawing very unusual and complicated district lines, politicians can put all the under represented parties in one district, giving them a voice. Another way politicians use gerrymandering to their advantage is to hinder another political party or group. These groups can be based on religious or class groups, however cannot be because of race or wealth.

There are several limits to the districts when they are reappointed. To begin with, districts cannot be drawn solely based on race. This means districts can't be drawn so that one race is dominantly in control. Also the redistricting cannot dilute minority voting strength. Another limit to redistricting is that each district has to be of equal population. Even though the lines can be drawn however they want, if they are not continuous or if the population inside each district is different it does not work.

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_gopo_us_sgs.pdf

2008-1) Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted, politicians often engage in gerrymandering.
(a) Define congressional reapportionment and explain one reason why it is important to states.
(b) Define congressional redistricting.
(c) Explain two goals of politicians when they gerrymander during redistricting.
(d) Describe two limits that the United State Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting.