Module 29: Internal Political Boundaries

This set of flashcards covers key concepts related to internal political boundaries and their impact on voting outcomes, focusing on electoral geography, gerrymandering, and voting patterns.

Electoral Geography

A subfield of political geography that analyzes the geography of political preferences and how geography can shape voting outcomes.

Voting District

A territorial division for casting votes in public elections; generally, only those who live in the voting district are permitted to cast their votes there.

Electoral College

A body of 538 electors in the United States; a majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president.

Reapportionment

The process by which the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are divided proportionately by population among the 50 states following every U.S. census.

Redistricting

The process of drawing new boundaries for U.S. congressional districts to reflect the population changes since the previous U.S. census.

Gerrymandering

The manipulation of voting district boundaries to favor a particular political party, group, or election outcome.

Packing

Gerrymandering a voting district by concentrating all of the opposition party into one district, thereby creating a large majority of that party in the district.

Cracking

Gerrymandering a voting district by dividing opposition votes into many districts, thus diluting the opposition’s vote to ensure it does not form a majority.

Blue States

States that predominantly vote for the Democratic party.

Red States

States that predominantly vote for the Republican party.

Purple States

States that show a fairly even split between Democratic and Republican voters.

Voting Patterns

Trends or behaviors in how different states or regions vote in elections.

Battleground States

States where both political parties have similar levels of support among voters, making them key targets during elections.

County-level results

Election results that display voting outcomes at the county level, revealing localized trends and differences.

GIS Software

Geographic Information System software used to analyze spatial and geographic data, often employed in electoral mapping.