Mattie Di Giovanni
Investigation 4: State History of Redistricting and Representation
First, choose a unique state from this list by typing your name in the adjacent column. Then, respond to the following prompts, including citations of credible sources.
- Your chosen state to investigate: Illinois
- Identify the last time redistricting occurred in the state. Then answer the following in full sentences. The lines were last redrawn in 2012 following the census
- Who crafted the redistricting plan? (Was it a bipartisan committee, an independent group of citizens, etc.?) The General Assembly
- What was the approval process? Both chambers must approve the map, the governor can veto,
- Write a short paragraph that summarizes the history of redistricting in the state. The state has been using the General assembly for a while now because it is listed to do so in the Illinois constitution. However, several bills have been made to change that. A bill that I think is fair is the bill to have a computer generate the districts so that it is not districted unfairly. One bill ask to specially commission someone to redistrict which I think is a less good plan because that’s a lot of power for a random person to have. One bill was proposed that says those in jail should be counted for at their home address which could change the outcome largely for where lines are drawn.
- Examine the state’s representation over time.
- Select a few dates in history and determine the percentage of the House the state’s Representatives had over time. Summarize in a few sentences.
Illinois for a long time has been majority democratic, and chicago has housed many democratic. However, recently the state has been evening out more. Illinois is really big and more democrats migrate towards the city but the republicans are really spread out in areas that not many people live in giving them more representation than perhaps they should have. This is a great example of how packing and cracking can affect the outcome of a state and whether its blue or red.
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- Describe any trends in the state’s representation.
The biggest trend I see is that chicago is always blue and what looks (geographically) like a huge portion of the state is normally red. However looking at the population this isn’t completely and accurate representation.
- Write a short paragraph about the history of demographic changes in the state.
Illinois grew a lot between 1880 and 1930 when the city of chicago began to grow and form as a city. The population grew by about 25% every decade. The state was on a steady population growth, however in 2017 the state began to decline. The state is comprised of a lot of farmers in rural areas. Majority of the people who live their are between the ages of 35-44, it is more women than men and largely white people. Which has been the case for many years. The state was apart of the north during the civil war and has been more accepting of all races since the civil war.
- In another short paragraph relate the demographic changes to the changes you see in the representation of the state (including the proportion of representation in the House and the representation of the people dictated by the redistricting practices).
I think it’s hard to find a direct correlation with the demographics besides the fact that typically a lot of democrats live near cities. The main age is 35-44 which is majority gen Y kids who are more than likely more supportive of social programs and helping the well being of everyone. I think that illinois is starting to attract a lot of young kids to the city despite it’s bad whether and lack of greater surroundings.
