TOPIC #21 — CONGRESS AS A REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY:

APPORTIONMENT, ELECTION METHODS, AND DISTRICTING

Q1.     Recall the nature of the “Connecticut (Representation) Compromise” at the federal convention. How did the representation of states in Congress differ under the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution? How has the representation of states in Congress changed since the federal government was established in 1789?

Q2.     What questions arise in implementing the apportionment clause of the Constitution (Art. 1, Sec. 2.3)?

Connecticut Compromise: bicameralism

Senate

          17^th Amendment

          “malapportionment”

House of Representatives

          census apportionment of seats (see Figure 6-1, textbook p. 210)

                     mathematical formula (Method of Equal Proportions) 

          district magnitude

                     single-member districts (SMD)

                     multi-member districts (MMD)

          SMD: simple plurality elections vs. runoffs (and other variants)

          MMD: majoritarian vs. proportional representation systems

          “swing ratio” (how does change in votes for a party translate into a change of seats?)

          drawing district (mostly SMD) boundaries: state legislatures

district size (“malapportionment”)

                               Colgrove v. Green (1946)

                               Baker v. Carr (1963)

                               Wessberry v. Sanders (1964)

                     district shape ("gerrymandering", see textbook p. 211)

                                homogenous vs. heterogenous districts

                                types of gerrymandering

                                           partisan / bipartisan / nonpartisan

                                           "majority-minority" districts (see Figure 6-2, text p. 213)

                                                     Shaw v. Reno (1993)