Does redistricting make a difference? : partisan representation and electoral behavior /

Rush's research design is inadequate to answer the question posed by the book's title because he never examines the impact of redistricting. Instead, Rush (Washington and Lee Univ.) concludes that partisan redistricting does not make a difference because voters in Connecticut and Massachusetts towns somewhat vary their partisan support from election to election. Because one cannot totally count on towns to vote as they have in the past, attempted gerrymanders may not work and, therefore, redistricting will not make a difference in helping one party more than the other. There are three problems: Rush's own data show great consistency from one election to the next, undercutting his argument; nobody ever said that attempted gerrymanders always work; and, Rush ignores much evidence of redistricting that made a partisan difference. In 1981, for example, the Democratic party, controlling the governorship and legislature in California, enacted a redistricting plan that resulted in Democrats winning a greater percentage of House seats in 1982 than in 1980 even though Democratic candidates received a lower percentage of the statewide vote in 1982. Redistricting does not matter? Repetitive and a bit pretentious. Advanced undergraduate through faculty. R. E. O'Connor; Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus