What Encourages Public Service on Redistricting Commissions? A Field Experiment

• In Event: Gerrymandering and Redistricting

Abstract

Why do citizens choose to apply to serve on governmental commissions? In particular, what motivates individuals to choose to serve on a redistricting commission, where the decisions made are highly political. Are individuals motivated by public service, perceptions of their own qualifications, or by self-interested motivations? I theorize that individuals seek to serve on public boards and redistricting commissions for both self-interested and public-service motivations. A theory is presented about encouragement to serve on executive commissions. To test the theoretical predictions, a field experiment of public service on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission was conducted. The researcher partnered with a good government organization who encouraged individuals to apply for the independent redistricting commission in California. This encouragement was part of a wide effort between a California executive branch bureau, outgoing members of the commission, and private and nonprofit good government groups. During the application period for the commission in 2019, the group encouraged a large number of applicants to apply. Individuals received randomly varied encouragement messages, some emphasizing public service motivations, others emphasizing expertise, and others emphasizing financial motivations of service. The empirical analysis assesses whether the encouragement generally led to an increase in applications to the commission relative to the control group; and also assesses if different motivations affected willingness to apply to serve. Results indicate that public service motivations were more important than self-interested financial considerations in board service. However, additional analyses are currently being conducted examining the effect of self-interested motivations on potential applicants at high, middle, and low income levels. Public service may matter more than self interest in motivating individuals to take their first steps toward applying to public service on redistricting commissions, even though redistricting is a highly politicized process.

Author

• Christian R. Grose, University of Southern California