CITIZEN ADVOCACY CENTER
CONGRISSIONAL REDISTRICTING:
TheChallengeof DrawingCompetitive
Congressional
Dishicts
cI-rlzEN
ADVOCAqY
CEN'TEFI
LESSONPLAN AND ACTTVITY
(630)
433-.o60
(630)
433-4oa3
::i,:.ff..."".,."..SJti2en AdvocacyCenter,BuildingDemocracyfor the2lst Centuy
www.citizenadvocacycenter.org
gUILDING
D€MOCRACY
F
CONGRESSIONALREDISTRICTING
LessonPlan and Activity
GradeLevel:9, 10,l l, 12
Subjectst
. SocialStudies:U.S.,State,andLocalGovemment
. LanguageArts: Reading,Writing,
Duration: Threeclassperiods
Description: Studentswill leam aboutUnited StatesCongr€ssionaldistricts,how andwhenthey
are drawnandwho drawsthem. Studenlswill alsopracticedrawing districts for their Stateand
leamaboutpoliticalissuesrelatedto redistricting.
Goals:
ISBE Standards:
. 14C.Understand
electionprocesses
andresponsibilities
ofcitizens.
o 14D. Understandthe roles and ilfluences ofindividuals and interestgoups in the
politicalsystems
oflllinois, theUnitedStatesandothernations.
. 16A. Apply the skills ofhistorical analysisandinterprctation.
o 168.Understand
the development
ofsignificartpoliticalevents.
. 16C.Understand
thedevelopment
ofeconomicsystems.
o 188.Understand
therolesandinteractions
ofindividualsandgroupsin society.
r 18C.Understand
how socialsystems
lom anddevelopovertime.
Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Understandhow Congressionaldistricts are divided amongthe states;
Understand
the needfor redistricting;
Understandwhenandhow distdcts arc redrawn;and
Leam aboutthe potentialabusesofredistricting power andthe advantages
conferredto incumbentrcprcsentativestkough genyrnandering.
Materials:
Blanl<map ofyour state(one for eachstudent)
Populationdensirymap of your state(onefor eachstudent)
Overheadprojector
Overheadmap of currentCongressionaldistrictsfor youl State
Genymanderingdiagram(attached)on overhead
Instructionsand Activity:
Lectur€
TheUnitedStatesHouseofRepresentatives
is composed
of435 Representatives
from the 50
states.Eachstateis entitledto at leastoneRepresentative.
Theremaining385Reprcsentatives
are divided amongthe stalesproportionally,basedupon a nationalcensustakeneveryten years.
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2
The censusdetermineswhich statesgain or loseRepresentatives.
As statesgain or lose
Representatives,
legislativedistricts must be redrawnto accomnodatethe change. The
redrawing
of districts
is calledredisrricting.
Eachstatehasthe individual power to determinehow it will &aw congressionaldistricts,subject
to federalrequirementsthat mandatethat eachcongressionaldistrict be asequalaspossiblein
termsof population. In orderto createcompetitiveelections,certaintechniquescanbe usedto
draw districts. Someofthe tecluliquesinclude:
.
Contiguity (ensudngthat all partsof the district are connected,thus ensu ng that the
representativeofthis distdct canbetterserveall the constituentsin tle distdct);
.
(ensuringthat the district is ascompactaspossibleandnot thinly stretchedout
Compactness
over hundredof miles, with the similaxresult ascontiguity of betterconstituentservices);and
.
Creatingdistrictsof equalpopulation(therealreadyis a requirementof equalpopulation
districts,thoughsomedeviationis allowedif a compellingstateinterestis involved).
.
Additionally, statescanadopta "competitiverequirement"which mandatescompetitive
districts,aslong asthe qeation ofcompetitive distdcts doesnot interferencewith ary other
redist cting requirements.
Moveto activity# 1.
Activity #1: Draw Congressional
Districts
Passout the blark mapsof your state(ar outline of your state)to eachstudent. Inform students
ofhow many CongressionalRepresentatives
your statehasandthe correspondingnumberof
districts in your state. Tell studentsthey arc the stateconmittee that is responsiblefor redrawing
the Congressionaldistrictsandask themto draw lines on their mapsto divide the stateup into
the appropriatenumberof districts. Thereis no right or wrong answer.This is merely to get
studentsthinking aboutthe dilficulty in dividing up the stateinto districts.Give them five
minutes.
Return to Lecture
Most statesgive their legislaturesthe authorityto createand implementthe redistrictingplan.
Sevenstatesgive the authorityto an independentbipartisanor nonpartisancommission(Arizon4
Hawaii, Idalo, New Jersey,Washington,Iowa andMaine). Also, sevenstatesavoid the issueof
redistrictingbecausetheir populalion is so low that they are only apportionedoneCongressional
Represeiltative(Alaska,Delawarc,Montana,North Dakota,SouthDakota,Vermont and
Wyoming). In the restofthe states,partisanpolitics plays an enormousrole in the redistdcting
processbecausepolitical paritiesandincumbentsoften want to keepthe statusquo in some
districtswhile redrawingothersto their advantage.The tactic usedto draw distdctsthat are
favorableto onepersonor groupbut not anotheris 'gerrymandering'.
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Gerqnnandering
is definedas:dividingan areainto politicalunitsso asto givespecial
advantagesto one group. Therc aretwo stategiesthat arepaxtofgerrymandering:packingand
cracking. Packingis usedto put asmany votersof a singletype into onedistdct in orderto
minimize their inlluence in other districts. Crackingis usedto spreadout votersofa singletlpe
amongnumercusdisticts so that they will alwaysbe in the minority. Packingand crackng arc
often combined,giving a few "safe" seatsto incumbentcandidates.
Gerrymandering
hasa longstardingpoliticaltraditionin theUnitedStates,datingbackto 1812.
The initial ideabehindgerrynanderingwasto createdistricts of corrmon voter intercst. It has
sinceevolvedinto a highlyprecisescienceinvolvingadvanced
statisticsandcomputers.
Gerryrnanderingmay be usedto the advanlageor disadvantageofparticular constituentsin a
district andoften works in favor ofthe party in contol ofthe statelegislatureat the time of
rcdistricting.
Move to activity#2
Activity #2: Gerrymandering
Seetheattached
diagrams.Thediagramsarecomposed
of 1'sand0,s. Eachintegerrepresents
a
person(or equalnumberofpersons)with I being Republicanand 0 being Democratic. The first
diagramrepresentsfour Congressionaldistrictsdmwn with equalnumbersof 1'sand 0,sin each
dist ct. The seconddiagramis drawnintentionally without lines andgives studentsthe
opporhmityto draw gerryrnandered
districts. Distribute copiesofthe diagramsto the students,
havethem declarethemselvesRepublicanor Democratic,andhavethem hy to draw four
gerrymandereddistricts. (In orderto be successi.rl,a combinationofpacking and crackingmust
be used.) Studentsmay draw the districtsto favor eitherparty. After the studentsarefinished,
showthem the examplediagramincludedon the samesheetasthe non-gerrymandered
diagram.
Activity #3: Draw Congressional
Districts
Display the mapthat showscunent congrcssionaldistrictswhereeveryonecan see. Discusswitlr
the classthe following questions:Are any ofthe districts oddly shaped?Which ones? Why do
you think that is? Why are somedistricts smalleror larger? Are there somedistuictsthat you
would draw differently?
After the discussion,passout the mapsdisplayingpopulationdensityto eachstudent. Remind
the studentsaboutthe total numberof districtsthey needto draw. Thenhavethemdraw the
districtsagain,keepingin mind the populationdensity. Havethe studentsestimatedistrictsof
equalpopulation,without actuallycalculatingthe numberofpeople in eachdist ct. Give them
tenminutesfor this.
Discussthesefollow up questions:
Are your districts similar or differentto the actualConglessionaldistricts? Do you thinl<that the
actualdistdctsare dra\rn in that mannerfor a reason?
Shouldgenymandering
be allowed?Is it acceptable
or evennecessary
to utilizegenymandering
to ensurefaimess(suchasthough the Voting Rights Act)? Which of the techniquesfor creating
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dist ctsor amendingelectionprocesses
do youthink wouldbe mostsuccessful
in creating
competitiveelections?Why? Whichtechniques
wouldbe leasteffectivein creatingcompetitive
elections?Wl1y?
SupplementalActivilyl
Discussion:
Consideringwhat you now know aboutgerynandering, arethereany dist cts in your Statethat
seemto be gerr5.mandered?
What do you think aboutthis? Is it fair? If you werc in a position
to developa redistrictingplan, would you genymanderthe districts? Wly or why not? Are you
awarethat gerrymanderingis widely usedby both major partiesin the U.S.? Did you know that
the U.S. SupremeCout hasruled that it is legal for a Statelegislatureto rcdistrict at anytime
theydesire,notjust aftera census?(See:LEAGUEOF LINITEDLATIN AMERICAN
CITIZENSv. PERRY,GOVERNOROF TEXAS)
Ocop)4ight2007CitizenAdvocacyCenter.All rightsreserved.No partofthis lessonplanmay
be reproducedin any form or by any meanswithout the prior, written permissionofthe Citizen
AdvocacyCenter.This lessonplanwasmadepossibleby a generous
grantfrom the McComick
TribuneFoundation.For more information aboutthe Citizen AdvocacyCenter,pleasecall 630833-4080.
Exarnpleofa non-gerrymandered
distributionofdist cts:
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for the21srCentury
www.citizenadvocacvcelter.ore
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
00
11
11
00
00
11
11
00
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Exampleof a gerrymandereddistributionof distdcts:
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www.citizenadvocacycenter.org
0 0 0 0 1 00 0 0
0 1 1 11 I 1 1 0
0 1
0 lI
0 lI
0 lI
1 11 I
1l 0 0
1l 0 0
1 l l lI
0 lT t l 1 1l
0 0 0 0 0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
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