Gerrymandering

GerrymanderingCracking and PackingAny way you draw the lines one political party will be favored.

By: Angela Mumford

Gerrymandering: The stealing of elections legally. Image from the site http://www.gerrymandering.senategop.net/historygerry.html Music by Foreigner. The song Urgent is used and an introduction to students learning about gerrymandering. It is suppose to be a play on the title to learn about government.

1When Did It Begin???Partick Henry and the other Anti-Federalists drew district lines in Virginia with the intent of keeping James Madison from winning a seat in Congress.

Patrick Henry

James MadisonTable of ContentsJames Madison picture was a source from the website Save the Constitution Fight the Con Con at http://www.fighttheconcon.com/about-the-con-co/get-the-facts Patrick Henry picture was a source from the website from wikipedia at http://www.fighttheconcon.com/about-the-con-co/get-the-facts. 4Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering is the unfair drawing of district lines to favor one political party.This unfair drawing of district lines took place in Massachusetts from 1810-1812. Governor Elbridge Gerry signed these unfair district lines into law and the Boston Gazette described the district as a Gerry-mander referring to the shape of the district on the right.

Table of ContentsGerrymandering: The stealing of elections legally. Both pictures images were from this site http://www.gerrymandering.senategop.net/historygerry.html 5Gerrymandering: an Issue in AmericaView the following video on the issue of gerrymandering and then answer the following questions about the video:What is political power in Congress based on in America?Which states get more seats in Congress?What is taken every 10 years?What are reasons for states to gain or lose population?What is reapportionment?How many seats are in the House of Representatives?What is redistricting?

Gerrymandering VideoTable of ContentsThe video on gerrymandering was uploaded April 27, 2010 by Gerrymanderingmovie.6CrackingCracking is when one party has control of a specific city and the opposing party is in charge of drawing the lines in which the opposing party will draw the lines to break apart the city and weaken the dominant party in the city.

Now it is your turn. Pittsburgh is predominantly Republican. If you were a democrat in charge of drawing the lines how would you draw the lines?

Table of ContentsPacking

Packing is a way in which one political party tries to draw the district line to pack all of the members of one political party into a small area in order to allow the dominant party to win one seat and the opposing party to win all the seats around the packed district.

Now it is your turn. Pittsburgh is predominantly Republican. You are in charge of drawing the lines to favor the democratic party. How would you pack the district to favor the democrats?

Table of ContentsThe Redistricting GameHow good are you at redistricting??? Here is a game by USC Annenberg Center that will test your ability to follow directions, solve problems and draw district lines. Lets see how far you can get in the game!!!

Click on the image to access the redistricting game.Table of ContentsThis image was located at the DC World Affairs Blog. It demonstrates the competition between the democrats and republicans to gain district representation in congress. http://diplomatdc.wordpress.com/2010/11/ 9UrgentForeignerJonesComplete Greatest Hits2002iTunes 8.0.2, QuickTime 7.5.5