Government Redistricting Web Sites   Tags: government_reapportionment, government_redistricting, legislative_reapportionment, legislative_redistricting  

Government Redistricting Web Sites

The decennial population Census of the United States is constitutionally required for determining congressional representation. After each decennial census, the Census Bureau assigns each state the number of seats it will have in the U.S. House of Representatives for the next ten years. Individual states are given the responsibility of drawing legislative boundaries for congressional districts as well as for state legislative districts. In some states, this process is done by the state legislature and in other states it is done by independent commissions. This process will occurr again following the 2011 release of state population data from the 2010 Census.

Sample Library of Congress Subject searches you can conduct in the Purdue Libraries online catalog for books on this topic include:

Apportionment (Election Law) United States
Election Districts United States
Gerrymandering United States
Proportional Representation
Representative Government and Representation United States

Most state governments have Internet websites featuring information about their redistricting practices and policies. Examples of general resources on redistricting can be found at the following sites which describe post 2000 population census redistricting.:

Census Bureau Redistricting Site

2010 Census Congressional Reapportionment

Congressional Directory

Congressional Research Service Reports (Courtesy-University of North Texas Library)
National Conference of State Legislatures (Non-governmental)

Most U.S. states have redistricting sites. These are listed below and some states have more than one site.