Simulated Annealing: An Improved Computer Model for Political Redistricting
1990; Yale Law School; Volume: 8; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0740-8048
Autores Tópico(s)Political Systems and Governance
ResumoThis year, the next decennial United States census has begun. When the results of the new census are released, nearly every state may be forced to redraw the boundary lines defining its state and federal legislative districts. The goals and methods a state adopts for political redistricting pose important policy questions for the state. The location of the boundary lines will greatly influence the composition of the legislatures, and the new legislatures will, in turn, affect the direction of states for years into the future. Since the U.S. Supreme Court first held political redistricting to be justiciable in Baker v. Carr, l redistricting has been constrained by legal decisions defining constitutional requirements for drawing district lines.2 Political redistricting has thus become a question of law as well as policy. Recently, redistricting has also become a new playground for computers. The improvements in computer technology made during the past decade will allow political groups to use computers in order to construct carefully gerrymandered districting plans; redistricters will be able to draw plans manually and use the computer to measure quickly the political impact such plans would have.3 As implied by the term gerrymander, this new use of computers as bookkeepers in redistricting can be expected to produce district boundaries that directly benefit those drawing the lines and may strongly decrease the value of many state residents' votes. One can expect that these new plans, though gerrymandered, will meet the
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