TH3

Evaluating Redistricting Online

Take Home Assignment 3

Goals: deeper understanding of such topics as the geography of urban ethnicity, poverty, and governance; learning some of statistical and cartographic resources available online; map interpretation skills and analytical writing.

1. Open the following web site:
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/jordan9e/cat_060/ch06/index.htm

2. Follow the instructions (they are also copied below for convenience, but it is easier to understand them online). A general explanation of how to read the tutorial is provided here: http://bcs.whfreeman.com/jordan9e/cat_060/Directions.htm

3. Complete all the 18 steps.

4. Submit by the deadline the following:

a. answers to all eleven questions (1 point each; about 1-2 pages total; please type; put your name);

b. print out of the two maps, Steps 12 (Percent 65 and over by block group) and 17 (Per Capita Income 1989: 1990). Make sure that they are at the suggested zoom level (6). Put your name and staple. If you print out not the whole .html page, but just the image, add a title. If you have no access to printer, contact the instructor regarding electronic submission of the map images. Each map is worth 2 points.

6.2 Evaluating Redistricting Online             Updated May 18, 2004

Another aspect of political geography in which mapping plays a primary role is redistricting. Redistricting is the process of creating new electoral district boundaries, which in turn creates new electoral regions.

As you have learned in class, new electoral district boundaries may be illegally manipulated or gerrymandered to favor certain sectors of society, such as political parties, ethnic groups, or age groups.

According to U.S. law, all states and counties with more than one electoral district must redistrict every ten years, to reflect new population figures released by the U.S. Census. Finding a way to redistrict so as to represent every citizen fairly, without gerrymandering, is a complex task of analyzing the geography of race, age, and political persuasion in a given district.

In this exercise we will analyze electoral redistricting in Hillsborough County, Florida, and compare the redistricting maps to the demographic characteristics of the county.

Step 1 The home page of the Hillsborough County Commission Redistricting Page at www.hillsboroughcounty.org/bocc/redistricting/home.html should be open in the left side of your browser.

You should see a gateway to the Web site. This Web site describes the redistricting process that Hillsborough County underwent in 2001 for the reapportionment of its County Commission.

Step 2   Scroll down and click on the link “Criteria for Redistricting of County Commission.”

Question 1: Briefly summarize the main criteria that Hillsborough County considered in its redistricting process.

Step 3   Press the Back button to return to the previous Web page. As you scroll down the page, you will see the sections where the committee has posted the various maps or “plans” of new district boundaries submitted for consideration. They can be downloaded and opened as PDF files using Adobe Acrobat.

Three of these plans, with their corresponding population data tables, appear on page 77 of Exploring Human Geography with Maps. In the maps, the old district boundaries are depicted as red and white lines, and the proposed new districts are depicted as shaded areas of different colors.

Question 2: Compare the old district boundaries in each of the three maps, B, D, and G. Which district is the most compact? What geographical factors (physical or human) might have influenced the shape of this district?

Question 3: Which of the former electoral districts is the least compact? What geographical factors might have influenced this shape?

Question 4: Compare the shapes of the proposed district boundaries in each of the three maps. Which of the three plans shows the greatest compactness?

Question 5: Evaluate the data on race in the tables to the right of the maps. Is there one plan that particularly favors the Hispanic vote? Why or why not?

Question 6: How would you evaluate the plans in terms of the African– American vote?

Next, let’s see if we can learn more about the districts by comparing the proposed district plans to census data.

Step 4   Leave the Hillsborough County site and go to the home page of the U.S. Census, www.census.gov, as you did in chapter 5.

Step 5   From the main page, click on American FactFinder in the left column. From the Factfinder page, click on “Maps and Geography” in the left column, then choose “Thematic Maps” from the maps page.

This launches the interactive map application of FactFinder.

Step 6   From the blue links across the tope of the page, click on “Geography.”

Step 7   From the next window, change “Select a Geographic Type” to “County,” change “Select a State” to “Florida,” and change “Select a Geographic Area” to “Hillsborough County.”

Step 8    Click “Show Result.”

You should now have a map view showing “Persons per Square Mile” in Hillsborough County.

You already have information about race for each of the districts. Are there other socioeconomic factors that might be considered in the districts? Below, we will explore two other demographic variables, age and income, to see if there is a correlation.

Step 9   From the blue links across the top of the page, click on “Themes.”

Step 10   From the list of available themes, scroll down and select “Percent of Persons 65 Years and Over: 2000,” and click “Show Result.”

Step 11   From the Zoom options to the right of the map, click on button 6 to zoom in one level.

Question 7: What is the enumeration unit of this map?

Step 12   Because we want to look at the most detailed information about race that we can, change the enumeration unit to Block Group.

In U.S. Census data, a block group is one of the smallest enumeration units available, averaging about 1,500 people in size.

You should now have a view of the redistricting area showing percent 65 and over by block group.

Question 8: Compare the Census map with the proposed district boundary maps. (Remember that you can use the zoom and pan tools to explore different regions of the county.) Are there any districts that appear to favor people over the age of 65? If so, explain.

Step 13   From the blue links across the top of the page, click on “Data Sets with Thematic Maps.”

Step 14   Select Summary Tape File 3 and click “Next.”

Step 15   As before, for “Select a Geographic Type,” choose “County;” for “Select a State,” choose “Florida;” and for “Select a Geographic Area,” choose “Hillsborough County.”

Step 16   Click “Next.”

Step 17   From the list of variables, select “Per Capita Income 1989: 1990” and click “Show Result.” Be patient—this may take a few moments to appear on your monitor.

Question 9: Compare the map of per capita income to the proposed district boundary plans. Are there any districts that appear to favor people with higher incomes? Explain your reasoning.

Question 10: Based on what you have observed so far, which of the three proposed plans do you think appears to be the most equitable redistricting solution, and why?

Step 18   Return to the Hillsborough County Commission Redistricting Committee Web page as in Step 1, and click on the link to the “Adopted Commission District Boundaries Map” (you can use the lower-resolution map link if you like).

Question 11: Do you think the Committee found an equitable redistricting solution? Consider in your answer the criteria that the committee set forth, from Question 1, above.