The Downstream Effects of Gerrymandering

• In Event: Redistricting Reform and Impact in the US

Abstract

In her recent concurrence in Gill v. Whitford, Justice Kagan argued that partisan gerrymandering may violate the First Amendment by burdening parties' associational functions. It is entirely unknown, though, if gerrymandering does in fact burden these functions, which include fundraising, candidate recruitment, and volunteer mobilization. In this paper, we are the first to analyze the link between gerrymandering and party activities. We use a novel approach to measure gerrymandering, analyzing how past and current maps would have been expected to perform based on a constant set of exogenous precinct-level election results. We also draw on a series of datasets to quantify the party functions identified by Justice Kagan.

Authors

• Nicholas Stephanopoulos, University of Chicago

• Christopher Warshaw, George Washington University