Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9A

1. Characterize the presence and type of legislatures across the US states.

2. Explain why conservative legislators might see advantages in signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.  Also explain the potential downsides.

3. Describe how the Game of Chicken from game theory illustrates the concept of tying hands as a winning strategy.  Connect this concept to the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

4. List the high-level functions of a state legislature.

5. Discuss how state legislatures might be seen as an ideal form of representative government, or at least as more ideal than the US Congress.

6. Explain what Dave McNeely said about the legislative system, the value of a legislator, the role of expertise, and the threat of supermajorities.

CHAPTER 9B

1. Describe how geographic representation works, as well as its drawbacks.

2. Explain how “equal” divisions of populations have been implemented since 1963.

3. Discuss the phrase “One person, one vote” and how it is interpreted to explain fairness in representation.

4. Compare and contrast “equal population” and “equal number of voters.”

5. List the political factors that politicians consider when drawing district lines.

6. Explain how a state’s apportionment can be both a legally fair and a politically unfair at the same time.

7. List and discuss the legal criteria for fair apportionment.

8. Describe how protected groups are connect to the Voting Rights Act and to apportionment in Texas today.

9. Discuss the role of maximum partisan advantage in redistricting and how this led to the Guardian headline: “In America, voters don’t pick their politicians, politicians pick their voters.”

10. Describe gerrymandering, including its origin and how it is done via packing and cracking.

11. Explain how researchers were able to accomplish a notional reversal of the 2012 congressional election results in Pennsylvania. 

12. Describe what is often the consideration behind whether a district’s shape is acceptable or unacceptable.

13. Describe the strategies that were used by activists to successfully oppose discriminatory gerrymandering for many years.

14. Explain the SCOTUS decision in LULAC v. Perry and its consequences.

15. Discuss why gerrymandering is not invincible.

16. Describe why gerrymandering is a major concern in Texas and other states.

17. Explain how gerrymandering played a role in Republicans gaining and keeping control of the Texas Legislature.

18. Describe how independent commissions are being used to push back against gerrymandering, as well as why Arizona and Texas are cautionary cases.

19. Characterize the use of alternative redistricting approaches in the US states.

20. Discuss how proportional voting (Chpt 7!) is laid out as a better means of resolving the problem of gerrymandering than are independent commissions.

21. Compare and contrast congruency and communication-based models of representation.

22. Characterize the similarities between state legislators and their constituents.

CHAPTER 9C

1. Describe the different perspectives on the job of at state legislature.

2. Characterize the number of total bills considered, killed, and passed by a typical legislature in Texas. 

3. Describe the differences in likelihood of success for bills introduces in the Texas House vs. Senate.

4. Trace the path of a successful bill through the Texas legislative process.

5. Discuss the differences in success of HBs and SBs within the House and in the Senate internal processes.

6. Describe how State Rep Rainey’s strategies did not and did succeed in requiring greater accountability from the Blinn College administrators.

7. Walk through the legislative process for a bill, identifying both the uncertainty that exists and who controls the outcome at each step.

8. Describe what and why of the operations tempo in the Texas Legislature from start to finish with respect to how many bills are on the agenda of the two chambers. 

9. Explain how the Texas Legislature permits “clones” of bills and how these are used to increase the chance of success.

CHAPTER 9D

1. Explain the role and importance of readings and calendars in the process of passing (or not passing) a bill.  Use the Senate’s Local and Uncontested Calendar as an example.

2. Explain the reason for the conflict between the efforts of Representative Bristow to pass his bill and his recognition that it was unconstitutional.

3. Describe how legislators determine their position on bills upon which they vote.

4. Discuss the phenomenon of ghost voting and its pros and cons.

5. Describe how the Texas House reacted to the negative publicity about ghost voting.

6. Explain how Texas State Senator’s bill requiring disclosure of donors is a possible commentary on legislative responsibility.

7. Characterize the role of partisanship and the ability of members of both parties to get their bills passed in Democratic-controlled and Republican-controlled legislatures in Texas.