Identifying partisan gerrymandering and its consequences: evidence from the 1990 US census redistricting

Sabet, Navid and Yuchtman, Noam ORCID: 0009-0003-6501-9618 (2024) Identifying partisan gerrymandering and its consequences: evidence from the 1990 US census redistricting. Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics. ISSN 2832-9368 (In Press)

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Abstract

We empirically identify politically-motivated redistricting and its consequences, studying the effects of changed electorate composition on US congressional district boundaries and on political outcomes. We exploit the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which legalized millions of immigrants, changing local electorates without changing demographics — legalized immigrants were already counted in the census. Where Democrats controlled the 1990 redistricting process, higher IRCA populations were associated with more spatially distorted districts. Consistent with theory, Democrats packed Hispanics (their ardent supporters) into majority-minority districts. House delegations had more Hispanics suggesting that partisan gerrymandering, in this case, increased representation among the historically underrepresented.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024
Divisions:	Management
Subjects:	J Political Science H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
JEL classification:	D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D70 - General P - Economic Systems > P0 - General > P00 - General J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J10 - General
Date Deposited:	25 Nov 2024 12:27
Last Modified:	03 Dec 2024 13:39
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/126163

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