reapportionment and redistricting
packing
concentrating voters of the opposing party in a district in order to reduce their numbers in other districts
texas gerrymandering 2002
democrats won 17/32 congressional seats although texans voted 53% R; 2003- republicans redistricted mid-decade
cracking
drawing boundary lines to split up voters of the opposing party in order to minimize their vote in distritcs
2014 midterms
low turnout is good for Republicans bc their base=more reliable voters than democrats although the democratic base is wider
trend over last 30 years
north loses seats while south and west gain seats (south=more power because more votes)
hijacking
redrawing boundary lines in order to take two incumbents from the same party in one district
kidnapping
redrawing boundary lines to place an opponent's home in a different district with different constituents
redistricting
redrawing the boundaries of the congressional districts in a state to meet the new reapportionment
result of texas gerrymandering
republicans held 21/32 seats instead of 15
what is gerrymandering responsible for?
so many safe districts across the country and for creating congressional districts that skew election results
who does redistricting?
state legislature (parties stick together so that the majority party in that state wins and draws boundaries to satisfy its desires)
reapportionment
the number of congressional districts a state has is redetermined
gerymandering
when redistricting is done in such a way to benefit the majority party in that state kegislature