scholarly journals Apportionment Cycles as Natural Experiments

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 358-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Elis ◽  
Neil Malhotra ◽  
Marc Meredith
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Distributional Effects ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
The U.S

Although there are compelling theoretical reasons to believe that unequal political representation in a legislature leads to an unequal distribution of funds, testing such theories empirically is challenging because it is difficult to separate the effects of representation from the effects of either population levels or changes. We leverage the natural experiment generated by infrequent and discrete census apportionment cycles to estimate the distributional effects of malapportionment in the U.S. House of Representatives. We find that changes in representation cause changes in the distribution of federal outlays to the states. Our method is exportable to any democratic system in which reapportionments are regular, infrequent, and nonstrategic.

Silence of the Land: On the Historical Irrelevance of Territory to Congressional Districting and Political Representation in the United States

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (01) ◽  
pp. 53-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Rehfeld
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Representative Government ◽  
Congressional District ◽  
Congressional Districts ◽  
Communities Of Interest

Every ten years, the United States “constructs” itself politically. On a decennial basis, U.S. Congressional districts are quite literally drawn, physically constructing political representation in the House of Representatives on the basis of where one lives. Why does the United States do it this way? What justifies domicile as the sole criteria of constituency construction? These are the questions raised in this article. Contrary to many contemporary understandings of representation at the founding, I argue that there were no principled reasons for using domicile as the method of organizing for political representation. Even in 1787, the Congressional district was expected to be far too large to map onto existing communities of interest. Instead, territory should be understood as forming a habit of mind for the founders, even while it was necessary to achieve other democratic aims of representative government.

Explaining Seat Changes in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1950–98

2002 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-405
Author(s):  
Brian Newman ◽  
Charles Ostrom
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
The U.S
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