National Identity & Electoral Geography

Question 1

each country has

Answer 1

its own unique mixes of national
origin &ethnic groups that help shape national
character

Question 2

90% people believe

Answer 2

treating people equally is very important

Question 3

88% think real Americans

Answer 3

take responsibility for one’s actions

Question 4

81% think real Americans

Answer 4

accept people of different racial

Question 5

78% think real Americans

Answer 5

accept people of different religious backgrounds

Question 6

25% have nativist values

Answer 6

being born in the US & being Christian are essential

Question 7

electoral geographers

Answer 7

study the spatial aspects of electoral voting
systems, voting districts, &election results

Question 8

electoral system

Answer 8

set of procedures used to convert the votes cast in an election into the seats won by a party or candidate

Question 9

majority

Answer 9

number of votes counted towards an individual running must be over
fifty percent

Question 10

plurality

Answer 10

winner takes all, seat is awarded to the individual candidate who receives the most votes in an election

Question 11

Majority-Plurality Representation AKA

Answer 11

geographic representation

Question 12

seats in the House of Representatives

Answer 12

435

Question 13

electoral college

Answer 13

538 (majority 270 to win)

Question 14

US presidential race is a strict plurality system

Answer 14

candidate who gets a plurality of the popular vote in a state gets all that state’s electoral votes.

Question 15

reapportionment

Answer 15

process of allocating legislative seats among voting districts so that each legislator represents approximately the same number of people

Question 16

redistricting

Answer 16

redrawing the boundaries of voting districts usually as a result of population change

Question 17

Supreme Court says

Answer 17

1. Equal population
2. Contiguous & compact
3. Respect the boundaries of other administrative units
4. Responsibility of state & carried out by legislature

Question 18

gerrymandering

Answer 18

the practice of manipulating voting district boundaries to give an advantage to a particular political group

Question 19

gerrymandering techniques

Answer 19

packing and cracking

Question 20

packing is

Answer 20

excess vote

Question 21

cracking is

Answer 21

wasted vote

Question 22

packing when

Answer 22

opposition supporters are concentrated into a few districts

Question 23

cracking when

Answer 23

opposition supporters are spread across many districts but in the minority

Question 24

Austin is gerrymandered

Answer 24

each of Austin’s congressional districts essentially has a little slice reaching down into Travis County but is completely swallowed by the surrounding conservative counties (cracking)

Question 25

1980s Amendment to Voting Rights Act

Answer 25

1. prohibited gerrymandering that dilutes minority voting power
2. circumstances in which it is necessary to create voting districts that concentrate the strength of a specific minority group

Question 26

gerrymandering solutions

Answer 26

1. Independent commissions for redistricting
2. Voter-determined districts
3. Commissions should draw districts that maximize the number of representatives for communities of color

Question 27

In Canada

Answer 27

race & political issues are more muted

Question 28

no Canadian political parties are

Answer 28

attempting to extend the power of the declining white majority with gerrymandering

Question 29

gerrymandering 1960s+

Answer 29

illegal in Canada