Democracy Texas Style

Dec 8

Critical Analysis

According to the data from the map and table above, how many new congressional districts will Texas have in the new (2022) congressional district map?
According to the data from the map and table above, how many competitive congressional districts did Texas have in the old (2020) map?
According to the data from the map and table above, how many competitive congressional districts will Texas have in the new (2022) map?
What is one explanation for this change in the level of competitive elections in Texas?
What is one political consequence of this change?
How does this change in electoral competitiveness relate to the concept of democracy?
Describe the process by which state congressional election maps are redrawn.
Ninety-five percent of Texas’s population growth in the past decade has come from Black, Latino, and Asian people, but the new maps dilute (limit) their voting power and strengthen that of white voters. Voting rights expert Ari Berman explains that the new maps mean that whites make up 40% of the population but control 60% of the districts, Latinos make up 39% of the population but control 20% of the districts, Blacks make up 12% of the population but control 2% of the districts, and Asians make up 5% of the population but control 0% of the districts. How does the disproportional representation of the Texas districts relate to the concept of racism?
The Department of Justice sued the state of Texas for violating the Voting Rights Act, saying its aggressively gerrymandered new districts discriminate against minority voters. How does this suit illustrate the concept of federalism?
It has been said that in a democracy voters choose their politicians, but in an American gerrymandered election, the politicians choose their voters. Make a claim about how democratic American elections have become.