Redistricting and Representation 101
The 2010 decennial census is nearly complete and within the next couple of months US states will once again be redefining congressional district lines. For practical reasons, redistricting is a necessary process in the US political system. US House of Representative districts must be relatively equal in population size and from time to time district lines must be redrawn to account for population shifts. Although there are practical reasons for redistricting, the actual practice is subject to partisan bias. There has been a great deal of debate over how to provide safeguards against this bias and “fairly” draw district lines. Continue reading Redistricting and Representation 101