Partisan bias and competition: the effect of redistricting methods on state legislative elections

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  • March 21, 2019
Creator
  • Robinson, Jenna Ashley
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Political Science
Abstract
  • Since Elbridge Gerry signed his infamous salamander, legislative redistricting has been a highly contentious and partisan process. Reformers have used legal constraints, court cases, and changes in redistricting authority to attempt to create districts that are fair and competitive. This work examines whether those methods are successful. Specifically, I test whether independent redistricting commissions, traditional districting principles, and court challenges affect partisan symmetry and whether partisan symmetry plays a role in electoral competition. I find that maps drawn by commissions, courts, and executive officials have a higher degree of partisan symmetry than those drawn by state legislatures and that maps with more symmetry result in more competitive legislative elections.
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  • In Copyright
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  • ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science.
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  • Gray, Virginia
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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