Redistricting Commissions
Editor(s)
Eugene D. Mazo
Files
Description
Redistricting commissions represent a significant innovation in American election law. By shifting power away from state legislatures and toward entities specially designed to draw electoral lines, proponents hope to unlock the potential of institutional change. Born of reform across numerous jurisdictions, these commissions reflect a wide diversity of structures and features. Some of the most important differences involve how commissioners are selected, how much autonomy each commission exercises, and the rules governing each entity’s internal voting processes. Scholars have examined these legal differences and their implications for redistricting. They have also explored, more broadly, the normative underpinnings of these reforms as well as commissions’ empirical outputs. Notwithstanding this rich body of scholarship, trends dominating American politics, including those associated with rising polarization, have outpaced the literature in potentially important ways. At least three related phenomena—the threat of partisan capture, the variable durability of reform, and the inherent limitations of commissions—complicate the work of commissions and their potential going forward and, accordingly, warrant further examination.
Title of Book
The Oxford Handbook of American Election Law
ISBN
9780197547922
Publication Date
10-2024
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publisher
Oxford University Press
City
Oxford
Keywords
election law, redistricting commissions, voting, reform, institutionalism
Disciplines
Election Law
Recommended Citation
Lisa M. Manheim,
Redistricting Commissions, in
The Oxford Handbook of American Election Law
641
(Eugene D. Mazo eds., 2024).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-chapters/67
