How to design electoral districts to win

books:


	• Bushmanders and Bullwinkles: How Politicians Manipulate Electronic Maps and Census Data to Win Elections Mark Monmonier University Of Chicago Press, 2001 - 216 pages average customer review:based on 2 reviews view larger image
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How to design electoral districts to win

Creating electoral districts to aid the party controlling the state legislature is a practice that goes back in U. S. history at least to the early 19th century. Monmonier gives a simple, easy- to-follow example of how it can be done, using simple diagrams.

not as good as "how to lie with maps"

This is a decent book touching on Gerrymandering of congressional and other districts in order to select the population within each district to guarantee politicians of certain parties getting elected, however, the author's partisanship (leftist) shows through: he coins a word ("Bushmander") to pin Gerrymandering on Republicans, when in fact this behavior has been historically concentrated on the left, both because of Democractic Machine politics, and because of affirmative action racial preferences applied to electoral mechanics. The author thus blames Bush I even though the vast majority of the racial gerrmandering was invited by the Voting Rights Act, a Democratic initiative, and was done by social activists with in the Justice Department in an attempt to create more African American (i.e. "Democratic") districts...but the unintended consequence of this was to simultaneously create more monolithic Republican districts at the same time. In fact, as even the author is forced to admit, the Republicans argued against racial gerrymandering...but this does not stop the Republican administrations under which much of the gerrymandering took place from getting blame, both in the book and in the book's title, for the very policies they fought.

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For years Mark Monmonier, "a prose stylist of no mean ability or charm" according to the Washington Post, has delighted readers with his insightful understanding of cartography as an art and technology that is both deceptive and revealing. Now he turns his focus to the story of political cartography and the redrawing of congressional districts. His title Bushmanders and Bullwinkles combines gerrymander with the surname of the president who actively tolerated racial gerrymandering and draws attention to the ridiculously shaped congressional districts that evoke the antlers of the moose who shared the cartoon spotlight with Rocky the Flying Squirrel.

Written from the perspective of a cartographer rather than a political scientist, Bushmanders and Bullwinkles examines the political tales maps tell when votes and power are at stake. Monmonier shows how redistricting committees carve out favorable election districts for themselves and their allies; how disgruntled politicians use shape to challenge alleged racial gerrymanders; and how geographic information systems can make reapportionment a controversial process with outrageous products. He also explores controversies over the proper roles of natural boundaries, media maps, census enumeration, and ethnic identity. Raising important questions about Supreme Court decisions in regulating redistricting, Monmonier asks if the focus on form rather than function may be little more than a distraction from larger issues like election reform.

Characterized by the same wit and clarity as Monmonier's previous books, Bushmanders and Bullwinkles is essential background for understanding what might prove the most contentious political debate of the new decade.

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