The Future of Gerrymandering Teach-Out

Ken Kollman is the Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor and Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan. He is also Research Professor at the Center for Political Studies (Institute for Social Research) at the university.His recent book, Perils of Centralization, published by Cambridge University Press, includes research on the European Union, the Roman Catholic Church, General Motors Corporation, and the United States government. Throughout his career he has contributed in diverse fields: computational social science, comparative and American politics, European Union studies, comparative federalism, and comparative political parties and elections. His popular American government textbook with W.W. Norton is now in its second edition. The New York Times and Washington Post have published his essays. He created and administered a new minor and major in international studies at the University of Michigan. The major has grown into one of the largest at the university. He co-founded and is co-principal investigator of the Constituency-Level Election Archive (CLEA), which is the world’s largest repository of elections results data.

In this segment he will discuss the history and trade-offs of redistricting reform.

Reflection Questions

Before moving forward here is an open question from Ken:

• What is the definition of ‘fair’ elections?
• Is it proportionality (which the number of seats held by a political group or party in a legislative body is determined by the number of popular votes received)?
• Is it protecting the incumbent (helping out members of their party win an election)?
• Is it competitive races, where each party has a chance at winning an election?