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Assessing the Partisan Effects of Redistricting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 1985

Bruce E. Cain
Bruce E. Cain*
Affiliation:
California Institute of Technology
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Abstract

The purpose of this article is to assess the reality behind the politician's perception that redistricting matters. There are, of course, many dimensions to that perception, because redistricting has many effects. This articles focuses on the impact of boundary changes on the partisan composition of seats. In order to do this, it will be necessary to specify what the expected partisan effects of redistricting are and how they can be measured. Thus, I first explain how the impact of redistricting will vary with the strategy of particular plans and then explore some techniques for measuring the partisan impact of boundary changes. I conclude with a detailed analysis of the most important congressional redistricting in 1982—the Burton plan in California.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 79 , Issue 2 , June 1985 , pp. 320 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1985

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