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Standard and Short Edition:
1 American Political Culture
2 The Founding and the Constitution
3 Federalism
4 Civil Liberties
5 Civil Rights
6 Public Opinion
7 The Media
8 Political Participation and Voting
9 Political Parties
10 Campaigns and Elections
11 Groups and Interests
12 Congress
13 The Presidency
14 Bureaucracy In A Democracy
15 The Federal Courts
16 Government and Economy
17 Social Policy
18 Foreign Policy and Democracy
Texas Edition:
19 The Political Culture, People, and Economy of Texas
20 The Texas Constitution
21 Parties and Elections in Texas
22 Interest Groups, Lobbying, and Lobbyists
23 The Texas Legislature
24 The Texas Executive Branch
25 The Texas Judiciary
26 Local Government in Texas
27 Public Policy in Texas

Chapter 10: Campaigns and Elections

You Decide Exercise

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Gerrymandering and Minority Representation

Is it important for Congress to accurately reflect the racial and gender composition of the United States? Has gerrymandering helped or hindered this goal? How does diversity impact other government institutions, such as the military? You will explore these questions in the exercise below.

Read this Christian Science Monitor article on racial preferences in the military http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0328/p11s01-coop.html


  1. What is the argument the Generals use in favor of affirmative action?

  1. What do they argue about race-neutral alternatives to achieving minority representation?

  1. Read the Policy Debate in Chapter 10 and explain what happened to minority representation after Congress ordered states to create districts that were more favorable to minorities? (also see figure 12.1)

  1. Go to http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RS22007.pdf and list how many blacks served in the 109th Congress? How many women? Asians?

  1. Using the logic from the Christian Science Monitor article, do you think that the generals would argue that increasing minority representation in Congress is important enough to consider race when redistricting?



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