Partisan Gerrymandering and the Construction of American Democracy

Erik J. Engstrom is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Davis.

"Explorations of American political history often demonstrate that patterns or influences familiar today also existed in the past. Erik Engstrom’s new book Partisan Gerrymandering and the Construction of American Democracy does not fit that mold. In the course of a thoroughgoing examination of redistricting in the nineteenth century, Professor Engstrom addresses a major contemporary disconnect between the beliefs of practicing politicians and the prevailing conclusions of the academic community. Both Democrats and Republicans expend significant resources trying to position their party to draw post-census maps for Congress and state legislatures and, if unsuccessful in those efforts, they attack the handiwork of the opposition in the courts. Despite the significance accorded redistricting by practicing politicians, the consensus among political scientists is that gerrymandering has little impact on party fortunes. Professor Engstrom makes a compelling case that, in the past, the creation of districts made a difference, at times even tilting the balance in Congress and thereby impacting consequential policy decisions. This meticulously researched volume explores the consequences of districting—or, as in the early days of the republic—the decision by some states not to district, but to elect their delegations at-large." --Congress & the Presidency