A Response to “Tests for Unconstitutional Partisan Gerrymandering in a Post-<i>Gill</i>World” in a Post-<i>Rucho</i>World

Curiel, John A.; Steelman, Tyler

doi:10.1089/elj.2019.0612

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Moreover, we recognize that other approaches, e.g., avoiding the fragmentation of existing political subunits, drawing districts that encompass geographically compact racial minorities, avoiding the drawing of districts that intentionally or unintentionally create partisan bias in electoral outcomes, are far from perfect; furthermore, we recognize that the criticism of ZIP code use in Grofman (2019), that ZIP code use does not stop stealth gerrymandering, applies to virtually all other kinds of constraints as well. We also agree with Curiel and Steelman (2020) that the criticism in Grofman (2019) that using ZIP codes for redistricting necessarily involves statewide analyses was misguided; unnecessary splitting of ZIP codes can also be examined within any given district. 4 And we certainly agree with the point emphasized by Curiel and Steelman (2020) that it is desirable that voters (as well as legislators) be able to identify the boundaries of the constituencies in which they find themselves.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…We also agree with Curiel and Steelman (2020) that the criticism in Grofman (2019) that using ZIP codes for redistricting necessarily involves statewide analyses was misguided; unnecessary splitting of ZIP codes can also be examined within any given district. 4 And we certainly agree with the point emphasized by Curiel and Steelman (2020) that it is desirable that voters (as well as legislators) be able to identify the boundaries of the constituencies in which they find themselves. 5 Indeed, this is a point with which one of us has long agreed.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 77%

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ZIP Codes as Geographic Bases of Representation

Grofman

Cervas

2021

Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy

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We consider the desirability of ZIP codes as the basis for configuring congressional districts. There are several issues. First, it is likely that voters lack knowledge of ZIP code boundaries. Second, ZIP codes may not coincide with existing political subunit boundaries, such as cities or counties whose non-fragmentation is legally important for redistricting. Thus, using ZIP codes would add yet another layer of complexity to districting. Third, ZIP codes do not perfectly coincide with larger census units, such as tracts, or even with smaller units such as census block-groups. Moreover, while districts can be drawn using ZIP codes that seem better in many respects than existing maps, the same is at least as true for line drawing using existing census geography and maintaining city and county boundaries to the greatest extent feasible. Fourth, we find the empirical evidence offered by Curiel and Steelman (2018) that ZIP code splits are a major aspect of the ability of voters to identify their legislator and engage in political communications with them to be less than fully convincing, though we applaud their efforts at data gathering and the care with which they have sought to control for potential confounding factors. We further commend them for their emphasis on the need to put operational content into the abstract and multivocal concept of community of interest, a concept which still is undertheorized, especially in the legal context.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 77%

ZIP Codes as Geographic Bases of Representation

Grofman

Cervas

2021

Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy

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“…Constituents and political activists can identify constituents with representatives with ease via the ZIP code look-up feature. Further, Curiel and Steelman (2020) follow-up and confirm that representatives update their constituent database by sending mail to all simplified addresses, every four-digit extension of the standard five-digit ZIP code. 5 Through a historical and legal review, they find each ZIP code to be legally obligated to minimize the travel times between delivery points on a mail route, and violations of this as grounds for legal action against the postal service.…”

Section: Necessary Conditions For Descriptive Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To measure the extent to which ZIP codes fully nest within a district, we employ a measure of diversity known as the Herfindahl index (Wolak 2009) which was adapted by Curiel and Steelman (2020) to the study of legislative districts. The Herfindahl index calculates the sum of squared proportions of a ZIP code's population living within a ZIP code-district dyad.…”

Section: Measuring Zip Code Violationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redistricting Out Descriptive Representation: The Harmful Effect of Splitting ZIP Codes on the Constituent–Representative Link

Steelman

Curiel

2022

J. Race Ethnicity Politics

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Redistricting poses a potential harm to American voters in limiting choice and accountability at the polls. Although voters still retain their right to contact their representatives, research shows that the confusion created when redistricting divides ZIP codes confounds the constituent–representative link. We build on existing research that shows splitting ZIP codes across multiple congressional districts leads to harms in representation. Specifically, we examine the role of splitting ZIP codes on the recognition of the racial group membership of one’s Congressional representative, a foundational component of the descriptive representation of racial minority voters via minority–majority districts in the United States. We find that citizens living in split ZIP codes are significantly less likely to know the race of their member of Congress. This occurs even when controlling for a host of factors including the race and partisanship of the constituent, the tenure of the member, and the amount of time a constituent has lived in their congressional district. Our work provides further evidence of the democratic harms experienced by American citizens living in ZIP codes that are split between multiple congressional districts. This work also points to the representational harms produced by poor district design on the representation of American voters.

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The Accuracy of Identifying Constituencies with Geographic Assignment Within State Legislative Districts

Steelman

Curiel²

2023

State Politics Policy Q.

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Identifying the geographic constituencies of representatives is among the most crucial, yet challenging, aspects of state and local politics research. Regularly changing district lines, incomplete data, and computational obstacles can present barriers to matching individuals to their respective districts. Geocoding residential addresses is the ideal method for matching purposes. However, cost constraints can limit its applicability for many researchers, leading to geographic assignment methods that use polygonal units, such as ZIP codes, to estimate constituency membership. In this study, we quantify the trade-offs between three geographic assignment matching methods – centroid, geographic overlap, and population overlap matching – on the assignment of individual voters to state legislative districts. We confirm that population overlap matching produces the highest accuracy in assigning voters to their state legislative districts when polygonal location data are all that is available. We validate this finding by improving model estimates of lobbying influence through a replication analysis of Bishop and Dudley (2017), “The Role of Constituency, Party, and Industry in Pennsylvania’s Act 13,” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 17 (2): 154–79. Our replication suggests that distinguishing between out-of-district and in-district donations reveals a greater impact for in-district lobbying efforts. We make evident that population overlap assignment can confidently be used to identify constituencies when precise location data is not available.

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A Response to “Tests for Unconstitutional Partisan Gerrymandering in a Post-GillWorld” in a Post-RuchoWorld

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

ZIP Codes as Geographic Bases of Representation

ZIP Codes as Geographic Bases of Representation

Redistricting Out Descriptive Representation: The Harmful Effect of Splitting ZIP Codes on the Constituent–Representative Link

The Accuracy of Identifying Constituencies with Geographic Assignment Within State Legislative Districts

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