Author Question: What is the meaning of redistricting, who is responsible for it, and why is it such a political ... (Read 45 times)

folubunmi · **on:** Jul 10, 2018

What is the meaning of redistricting, who is responsible for it, and why is it such a political football?

Answer:

Question 2

Public approval of Congress has varied significantly over the past two decades. Describe what was happening in the country when the level of approval of Congress was at its highest and lowest points.

Answer:

Eazy416 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 10, 2018

Answer to Question 1

An ideal response will:
1. Define redistricting as the reapportionment of congressional seats after each census. States that have grown in population are apportioned more representatives and those that have dwindled, fewer.
2. State legislatures draw the new district maps. This has often been used as an invitation to use redistricting as a partisan tool in which the incumbent majority creates voting districts favorable to their party's reelection.
3. Gerrymandering is the term used for this sort of partisan district creation. Packing and cracking describe whether district lines are drawn to give electoral favor to a particular group of constituents (packing), or to divide a block of opposition constituents (cracking).

Answer to Question 2

An ideal response will:
1. Identify 2001 as a high point. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, approval of government was high in general as the country came together.
2. Identify 2012 as a low point. Public was angry about Congress's inability to fix the economy in the wake of the Great Recession. Polarization in Congress led to gridlock. Many thought Congress was failing to meet its domestic responsibilities.