Chameleon Congressional Districts

Abstract

The United States Census Bureau counts the number of inhabitants in the United States every ten years. That census leads to the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives based on the total population of each state. And the states draw new congressional districts for the decade ahead, districts with equal numbers of inhabitants in them.

These tasks are ostensibly simple and straightforward. They are designed for electing members to the House of Representatives. But congressional districts serve many other functions, electoral and non-electoral, which may operate below the surface — some of which are common knowledge if we only think about them and some of which we may be unaware of.

Congressional districts, then, are something of a chameleon. They take on a different hue depending on their context, from how political parties go about choosing a presidential nominee to how the military academies fill out their classes. This Essay reflects on some of the alternative roles congressional districts serve and whether they ought to serve such roles.

Keywords: election law, redistricting, census, voting rights, reapportionment, representation, democracy,

JEL Classification: K00, K1