Political Districting

Buchanan, Austin

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-54621-2_893-1

Encyclopedia of Optimization 2023

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-54621-2_893-1

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Political Districting

Austin Buchanan

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Cited by 4 publications

References 73 publications

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A case study of congressional districting: “Rocks-Pebbles-Sand” approach

Risk,

Switkes,

Zhang

2023

Discov glob soc

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As a case study into an algorithmic approach to congressional districting, North Carolina provides a lot to explore. Statistical modeling has called into question whether recent North Carolina district plans are unbiased. In particular, the literature suggests that the district plan used in the 2016 U.S. House of Representatives election yields outlier results that are statistically unlikely to be obtained without the application of bias. Therefore, methods for creating strong and fair district plans are needed. Informed by previous districting models and algorithms, we build a model and algorithm to produce an ensemble of viable Congressional district plans. Our work contributes a “Rocks-Pebbles-Sand” concept and procedure facilitating reasonable population equity with a small overall number of county splits among districts. Additionally, our methodology minimizes the initial need for granular, precinct-level data, thereby reducing the risk of covert gerrymandering. This case study indicates plausibility of an approach built upon an easy-to-understand intuition.

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A case study of congressional districting: “Rocks-Pebbles-Sand” approach

Risk,

Switkes,

Zhang

2023

Discov glob soc

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Black representation and district compactness in Southern congressional districts

Goedert,

Hildebrand,

Pierson

et al. 2024

Politics, Groups, and Identities

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Asymmetries in Potential for Partisan Gerrymandering

Goedert,

Hildebrand,

Travis

et al. 2024

Legislative Studies Qtrly

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This article investigates the effectiveness of potential partisan gerrymandering of the US House of Representatives across a range of states. We use a heuristic algorithm to generate district maps that optimize for multiple objectives, including compactness, partisan benefit, and competitiveness. While partisan gerrymandering is highly effective for both sides, we find that the majority of states are moderately biased toward Republicans when optimized for either compactness or partisan benefit, meaning that Republican gerrymanders have the potential to be more effective. However, we also find that more densely populated and more heavily Hispanic states show less Republican bias or even Democratic bias. Additionally, we find that in almost all cases we can generate reasonably compact maps with very little sacrifice to partisan objectives through a mixed‐objective function. This suggests that there is a strong potential for stealth partisan gerrymanders that are both compact and beneficial to one party. Nationwide, partisan gerrymandering is capable of swinging over 100 seats in the US House, even when compact districts are simultaneously sought.

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Political Districting

Cited by 4 publications

References 73 publications

A case study of congressional districting: “Rocks-Pebbles-Sand” approach

A case study of congressional districting: “Rocks-Pebbles-Sand” approach

Black representation and district compactness in Southern congressional districts

Asymmetries in Potential for Partisan Gerrymandering

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