Redistricting AP Gov Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🌍 Definition: Redistricting is the process of redrawing electoral district boundaries, often after a census, to ensure equal population sizes.
• ⚖️ Apportionment: The process of dividing the number of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives among the states based on population.
• 📍 Gerrymandering: The drawing of electoral district lines to favor one party or group over another. This can involve concentrating the opposing party's voters in a few districts (packing) or spreading them thinly across many districts (cracking).
• 📜 Legal Requirements: Districts must be contiguous (connected) and compact (relatively geographically tight). The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits redistricting plans that discriminate against racial or ethnic minorities.
• 🏛️ Who Draws the Lines? In most states, the state legislature is responsible for drawing district lines, although some states use independent commissions.
• 📊 Impact: Redistricting can significantly impact election outcomes and the balance of power in a state or in Congress.
• 💡 Malapportionment: An illegal practice where districts are drawn with very unequal populations. Reynolds v. Sims (1964) established the principle of “one person, one vote.”

Practice Quiz

1. Which of the following best defines redistricting?
   1. The process of counting the population every ten years.
   2. The redrawing of electoral district boundaries.
   3. The process of electing the president.
   4. The allocation of seats in the Senate.
2. What is gerrymandering?
   1. A type of voting machine.
   2. The drawing of district lines to favor one party or group.
   3. A legal challenge to redistricting plans.
   4. The process of appointing judges.
3. The principle of “one person, one vote” was established by which Supreme Court case?
   1. Marbury v. Madison
   2. Brown v. Board of Education
   3. Reynolds v. Sims
   4. Miranda v. Arizona
4. Which of the following is NOT a typical requirement for redistricting?
   1. Districts must be contiguous.
   2. Districts must be compact.
   3. Districts must favor incumbents.
   4. Districts must comply with the Voting Rights Act.
5. What is the primary purpose of apportionment?
   1. To determine the number of senators each state receives.
   2. To divide the number of representatives in the House among the states.
   3. To redraw district lines within a state.
   4. To select the president.
6. Which body is typically responsible for redistricting in most states?
   1. The federal government.
   2. The state legislature.
   3. The Supreme Court.
   4. Independent commissions in all states.
7. What is 'packing' in the context of gerrymandering?
   1. Spreading out the opposing party's voters across many districts.
   2. Concentrating the opposing party's voters in a few districts.
   3. Creating districts that are geographically compact.
   4. Ensuring that all districts have an equal number of voters.