One Man, One Vote: Representational Equality, Prison Gerrymandering, and Reform

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: The Census Bureau counts incarcerated Americans at the location of their prison cells, rather than their hometowns. Census data is a central part of redistricting, enabling state and local governments to create roughly equal constituencies. But because felons largely cannot vote, districts containing penitentiaries can be the same size as their neighbor but with a fraction of the voting population. This means that voters in that district have a disproportionately high amount of representation. Patterns of incarceration further mean that people in prison are primarily incarcerated out of urban, Democratic communities of color and held in prisons in rural, white, Republican areas. The result is a transfer of political power from urban hubs to rural areas, with consequences for policy. Thirteen states have taken some level of action to address prison gerrymandering and mitigate its effects. This thesis investigates the factors relating to legislative success, finding that Democratic trifecta governments, mobilizing narratives around racial equity, and a legal foundation based in notions of electoral equality and representational nexuses all correspond to the passage of comprehensive legislation.

Author	Chun, Carolyn

DOI	https://doi.org/10.25740/dm068nm4984, https://doi.org/10.25740/dm068nm4984
Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/dm068nm4984

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY).

Preferred citation: Chun, C. (2022). One Man, One Vote: Representational Equality, Prison Gerrymandering, and Reform. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/dm068nm4984

Stanford University, Fisher Family Honors Program in Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. (CDDRL)

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