Keeping Up with the Congressmen: Evaluating Constituents’ Awareness of Redistricting

Christopher N. Lawrence and Scott H. Huffmon

Social Science Quarterly, 2015, vol. 96, issue 1, 65-75

Abstract: type="main">

We seek to understand how voters respond to being drawn into a new congressional district: specifically, the new Seventh District of South Carolina created in 2012.

We employ data from a survey of voters in the new district, and employ descriptive statistics and logistic regression models to identify whether voters are aware of the new district, whether they expect better representation as a result, and to explain their likely vote choice.

We find limited awareness of the new district among voters, despite a competitive election campaign, but nonetheless a broad public understanding that redistricting may lead to more local influence in Congress.

Our results suggest that redistricting efforts that ensure the maintenance of communities of interest to preserve voter-representative links, even if that means deviation from a strict “one person, one vote” standard, may be superior from a representational standpoint.

Date: 2015
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