Party Lines Competition, Partisanship, and Congressional Redistricting

Having state legislatures redraw congressional districts after the decennial census has long been a source of controversy, and recent developments have added new fuel to the fire. The spectacle of mid-decade partisan gerry mandering in Texas reinforced the image of manipulation by self-serving politicians. The increasingly perfunctory character of legislative elections is a related concern: in 2004, only seven House incumbents were defeated in the general election despite a hotly contested presidential campaign. Party Lines addresses these problems head on in an authoritative and timely analysis of redistricting in the United States.