You'll hear a lot this semester about the factors that have led to political polarization in the United States. Data shows that Democrats and Republican elected officials are becoming extreme in their views, and fewer are representing those who hold moderate viewpoints. One of the alleged causes is the fact that congressional districts are often drawn in a manner that increases the influence of the majority party in each state. This makes it necessary for elected officials who want to win elections to respond to the extreme voices that tend to dominate turnout.
The technique is called gerrymandering and few states do this better than Texas.
One of the more bold uses of gerrymandering happened in 2003 when Texas Republicans took advantage of the fact that they had just won the majority in the Texas House of Representatives and quickly redrew congressional districts in order to pad their advantage in that institution as well.
It was controversial because it occurred after districts had already been redrawn following the 2000 census, and it was noteworthy because it would eventually lead to the downfall of one of the more power Texans in the United States House at that time, Tom DeLay.
This book is useful because it tells us that elections are not simple things. The rules that govern how elections are conducted are perhaps more important that who runs, who votes and what issues are at stake. If a group of people can determine how elections are conducted they can predetermine outcomes.
Obviously the sections on elections in Texas are useful in figuring out your paper topic. So might some of the storied in these blog posts:
- gerrymandering.
- ideological polarization.
- party polarization.
- primary elections.
- redistricting.
- voter turnout.
