Civics
R and R 1
Name___________________________
Date________________ Per.________
REAPPORTIONMENT AND REDISTRICTING
WATCH IT! – The U.S. Census and Apportionment (2:09)
WATCH IT! – What is Reapportionment (1:53)
During the writing of the Constitution in 1787, there was much discussion on representation in Congress.
It was decided that the members of the Senate would represent the different states and members of the
House of Representatives would represent people in those states. For the House, the Constitution’s
framers set up a system of apportionment whereby states would be divided into separate legislative
districts based on the population of the state. Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution requires a census
be taken every 10 years to determine population for purposes of determining the number of people in
each district for each state. Each district is to have roughly the same amount of people to ensure citizens
are equally represented. Originally, the number of people per Representative was 30,000 and the total
number of the Representatives in the House was 65. Every state would be guaranteed at least one
representative even if the state’s population was below 30,000. Every ten years the census would be
taken and Congress would have to reapportion the House of Representatives to adjust to the increase in
population and the demographic changes that occurred.
The Difference Between Reapportionment and Redistricting
Many individuals use the terms "reapportionment" and "redistricting" interchangeably even though the
two terms have very different policy implications, particularly with respect to the current debate over the
decennial census. The following paragraphs explain this important distinction in greater detail.
Very simply:
 Reapportionment - the division of congressional districts among the states
 Redistricting - the division (or drawing) of districts within a state
Reapportionment
According to Federal statute (law), there are 435 congressional districts that comprise the U.S. House of
Representatives. Following each decennial census, the total population of the United States is divided to
determine the approximate number of people to be included in each congressional district. The 435
congressional districts of the U.S. House of Representatives are "apportioned" among the states under
the U.S. Constitution and subsequent federal statutes.
Each state is guaranteed at least one congressional district regardless of population and the remaining
districts are allocated according to a complicated mathematical population formula that distributes the
representation as evenly as possible among the states.
Redistricting
Redistricting refers to the actual division of congressional districts or the drawing of congressional district
lines within a state into new districts after each state has been apportioned its number of districts
following each decennial census. The laws governing redistricting include state constitutions and/or
statutes as well as Federal and State court decisions. Changes in boundaries therefore, are correctly
described as "redistricting" rather than "reapportionment."
Civics
R and R 2
Name___________________________
Date_________________ Per._______
REPRESENTATION IN THE HOUSE
The House of Representatives has 435 members from the 50 states.
The number of representatives a state has is determined by population.
States are guaranteed at least 1 representative to the House.
This leaves 385 seats to be divided (apportioned) among the 50 states.
HOW ARE THE SEATS APPORTIONED FAIRLY IN THE HOUSE OF REPS?
Every 10 years, a census is taken to count the U.S. population and gather information to see the changes in society. This
information is used to create policies, make laws and determine representation in legislatures at the local, state and national
level.
One of the many uses of census information is to determine apportionment of the 435 representatives to the House of
Representatives.
Apportionment is the process of deciding how
many representatives each state sends to the
legislature based on population.
Reapportionment is the process of re-dividing the
seats for the House of Representatives (or other
legislatures) based on new census data.
The most populous states get the most
representatives. Each state is guaranteed at least one
representative.
Analysis Activity: Using the census tables (click
here) and the census map (right), answer the
following questions.
1. What are the 5 most populous states based on
the 2010 Census?
2.
Which states lost representation?
3.
Which states gained representation?
REPRESENTATION CHANGES BASED ON CENSUS 2010 DATA
Analysis Activity: Use the census map to answer the following questions.
4. What two regions of the country lost representation?
5.
What two regions of the country gained representation?
Analysis Activity: Use this census link (click here) to answer the following questions. Hint - Click on “apportionment”
6. How many representatives did California have in 1910? How many representatives has California gained in 100 years?
7.
How many representatives did Florida have in 1910? How many representatives has Florida gained in 100 years?
8.
How many representatives did New York have in 1910? How many representatives has New York lost in 100 years?
9.
How many representatives did Pennsylvania have in 1910? How many representatives has Pennsylvania lost in 100 years?
Civics
R and R 3
Name___________________________
Date________________ Per.________
GERRYMANDERING
WATCH IT! Gerrymandering: How Drawing Jagged Lines Can Impact an Election (3:52)
It didn’t take long before politicians
discovered ways to draw congressional districts to
achieve political ends. In 1812,
Massachusetts
governor Elbridge Gerry had his state’s
congressional districts redrawn to strengthen his
party’s (the Democratic Republicans) majority in the state legislature. This method created district
boundaries that had contorted shapes that resembled a lizard. A political cartoon, drawn in 1812,
configured some of Governor Gerry’s districts to look like a salamander. Political opponents quickly
adopted the term “gerrymander” to describe these districts and the process of manipulating the
boundaries for political gain.
From 1790 to 1910, the size of the House of Representatives was adjusted after every census to keep
up with the country’s growing population. This process is called redistricting, where states redraw
their district boundaries to more closely reflect the character of the state’s population. Congressional
districts should be roughly the same size in population and should be compact so as to respect communities who share
collective interests
through redistricting is supposed to help ensure that everyone’s vote counts.
In 1911, Congress passed legislation that fixed the number of Representatives at 433 with the provision that Arizona and New
Mexico would be given one representative each upon statehood. After the 1920 census, Congress failed to pass a
reapportionment act due to disputes between Democrats and Republicans over whether urban populations had been
undercounted and arguments over which apportionment formulas to use. In 1929, Congress settled on limiting the number of
Representatives to 435. Over the years, as the population of the nation has increased, the number of people per district
increased too.
During the Civil Rights movement, various state legislatures redrew legislative districts to reduce the influence of African
American voters. In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled in Baker v. Carr that the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause required
political districts to be equal in population so that one person’s vote would not weigh more than another person’s vote who
resides in a separate district (the “one person, one vote” principle). As an example, a voter living in a political district with
100,000 people will have a 3 times more voting power to elect a representative than a voter living in a district with 300,000
residents.
In 1965, Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act to aggressively enforce the 15th Amendment’s guarantee of the right to vote.
Originally intended to eliminate barriers to voting for African Americans such as the poll tax and literacy tests, by the 1990,
enforcement the provisions of the Voting Rights Act changed to redistricting to make sure African Americans and other
minorities were not being denied equal protection in voting. The law also established the mandate that states with histories of
voting discrimination (so-called “covered jurisdictions”) have to submit plans to the Justice Department or a federal court for
approval to ensure provisions of the Voting Rights Act are being followed. Later court action further clarified this. In the
Supreme Court case of Shaw v. Reno (1993), the court ruled that gerrymandering based solely on racial data is
unconstitutional. However, partisan gerrymandering is allowed.
In most states today, the responsibility for setting the boundary lines lies with the state legislatures. Only a few states assign
the responsibility to a redistricting commission or committee established solely for the purpose of redistricting. In those states
where new districts are drawn by the state legislatures, a bill is passed to lay out its requirements. Public hearings are usually
conducted, but not always. In almost every case, the process becomes intensely partisan, and often the majority political party
attempts to gain a political advantage by redrawing the district boundary lines.
Many people feel that the entire redistricting process is in great need for reform. Several states have begun to address this with
state legislation designed to reduce the partisan influence in the process. But some of these have run into difficulty because
neither political party wants to give up its power or the opportunity to increase its influence. Often reform plans from the state
legislatures restrict opportunities for other groups. Some public interest groups are considering shifting redistricting authority
from politicians to non-partisan committees. Currently, only five states have such an arrangement. The states of Washington,
California, and Arizona have created standing committees for redistricting following the 2010 census.
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
1.
How often is the census taken? Why is it taken?
2.
In most states today, who establishes the boundary lines for the districts?
3.
What was the court case ruling in Shaw v. Reno?
Civics
R and R 4
Name___________________________
Date________________ Per.________
YOU THOUGHT YOUR DISTRICTS LOOKED CRAZY!
WATCH IT! Can You Solve Slate’s Gerrymandering Jigsaw Puzzle? Search - Slate Gerrymandering Jigsaw
Click here to go directly to the site
After solving each state puzzle, read the information that is given directly above the state puzzle.
1.
What is the first state you
constructed?
10. What is the fourth state you constructed?
11. How many Dems in District 1 (%)? How
many Republicans in District 1 (%)?
2.
Why do districts in Iowa tend to be competitive?
12. How many Dems in District 2 (%)? How many Republicans
in District 2 (%)?
3.
What is the second state you
constructed?
4.
Which political party received a majority of the House
votes overall in this state?
13. How many Dems in District 14 (%)? How many Republicans
in District 14 (%)?
14. What is the fifth state you constructed?
5.
How many House seats did the Democrats win in
Michigan? Republicans win?
15. Republicans won 1/3 of the total House vote in 2012. Of
the states’ eight House seats, how many did the
Republicans win?
16. What is your favorite nickname for District 3?
6.
What is the third state you
constructed?
7.
Which political party received a majority of the House
votes overall in this state?
8.
How many House seats did the Democrats win in
Michigan? Republicans win?
17. What is the sixth (and final) state you
constructed?
18. An Ohio State University political scientist said Ohio's
adopted plan was "the most grotesque partisan
gerrymander that I, as a political scientist, had ever seen."
Although Obama beat Romney by two percentage points in
2012, how many of Ohio’s 16 House seats did the
Republican-controlled legislature win?
19. How many Republicans in District 15 (%)? How many
Democrats in District 15 (%)?
9.
What district is the least compact congressional district
in the country? Do you agree?
20. How many Republicans in District 6 (%)? How many
Democrats in District 6 (%)?
Civics
R and R 5
Name___________________________
Date________________ Per.________
INTERPRETING A POLITICAL MAP
Nova is an imaginary state which sends four representatives to the United States Congress. Two parties, the
Republicans and the Democrats, dominate the government of the United States. The three maps below show
three different plans for dividing up Nova into congressional districts. Answer the questions below about each
redistricting plan. You will then discover how the boundaries have been “gerrymandered” in favor of one party
or the other.
1. All three of these maps have the exact same number of Republicans (R) and Democrats (D). How many
Republicans (R) are there in each plan? How many Democrats (D) are there in each plan?
2. In Plan ‘A’, which party (R or D) has the majority of registered voters in:
District 1 ____
District 2 ____
District 3 ____
District 4 ____
3. In Plan ‘B’, which party (R or D) has the majority of registered voters in:
District 1 ____
District 2 ____
District 3 ____
District 4 ____
4. In Plan ‘C’, which party (R or D) has the majority of registered voters in:
District 1 ____
District 2 ____
District 3 ____
District 4 ____
5. Which plan gives the greatest power (most districts) to the Republican Party?
6. Which plan gives the greatest power (most districts) to the Democratic Party?
7. Explain why all three plans are examples of gerrymandering.
Civics
R and R 6
Name___________________________
Date________________ Per.________
GERRYMANDERING - “IT’S OKAY WHEN WE DO IT”
Gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a political party by manipulating geographic
boundaries to create partisan districts. District lines can be drawn either to shut out minority voices or strengthen them.
The way in which district lines are drawn has a great effect on who wins representation.
Your job is to redistrict (by gerrymandering) in order to give your political party an advantage in districts. Your party should
have a 3 to 1 advantage. To do this, you need to “pack” the opposing political party in one district, and “crack” them in the
other three districts.

There are four districts & each district must contain 10 or 11 “people” (each “person” is represented by a single letter).

To have an advantage in a district, your party must have at least 6 people from your party in that district.

Each districts geographical span must be contiguous.

There are 21 Democrats (D) concentrated in the center and 21 Republicans (R) dominating the suburbs.
I am going to give the
I am going to give
NEITHER PARTY
an advantage in districts.
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
a 3 to 1 advantage in districts.
DISTRICT
#1
DEMOCRAT
(BLUE)
REPUBLICAN
(RED)
DISTRICT
#2
DISTRICT
#3
DISTRICT
#4
7-4
6-4
6-4
9-2
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
D
D
R
D
R
R
D
D
D
D
R
D
D
D
D
D
D
R
R
D
D
D
D
R
D
R
R
R
R
R
R
D
D
D
R
DISTRICT
#1
DISTRICT
#2
DISTRICT
#3
DISTRICT
#4
DEM
6(D)-5(R)
DEM
6(D)-4(R)
REP
6(R)-5(D)
REP
6(R)-4(D)
DEMOCRAT
(BLUE) or
REPUBLICAN
(RED)
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
D
D
R
D
R
R
D
D
D
D
R
D
D
D
D
D
D
R
R
D
D
D
D
R
D
R
R
R
R
R
R
D
D
D
R
I am going to give the
REPUBLICAN PARTY
a 3 to 1 advantage in districts.
DISTRICT
#1
DEMOCRAT
(BLUE)
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
DISTRICT
#2
DISTRICT
#3
DISTRICT
#4
7-4
6-4
6-4
9-2
REPUBLICAN
(RED)
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
D
D
R
D
R
R
D
D
D
D
R
D
D
D
D
D
D
R
R
D
D
D
D
R
D
R
R
R
R
R
R
D
D
D
R
1)
What is the census?
2)
What is reapportionment?
3)
What is redistricting?
4)
What is gerrymandering?