represented by a member of their group for increased influence on the overall composition of the legislature. To the plaintiffs, being a member of a very safe majority-black district did Voinovich not represent a democratic or expressive good, but simply a wasted vote. It would seem that these plaintiffs were more content than those in to feel only represented. Gomez “virtually” The simulation model will measure representation” as the ideological distance “personal between a voter and the legislator in that voter’s district. Discursive Representation This is probably the least studied of the dimensions in the context of districting. I am using the term Representation” as propounded by Dryzek and Niemeyer in their “Discursive 2008 APSR article with that title; it is similar to politics of presence” as discussed by Canon “the and other works on racial representation. While the measure of representation “compositional” assumes that each additional marginal legislator contributes equally in their ability to represent an interest, we might also imagine that a single voice within a deliberative body can be uniquely powerful. Indeed, Dryzek and Niemeyer argue is no need for proportionality in discursive “there representation”. But unlike representation, there is no need for a voter’s interests to “personal” be represented discursively by the legislator they elect from their own district; this voice just needs to be present somewhere in the body. The relevance of this dimension to the representation of racial minorities is probably best exemplified by drawing examples from the United Senate, which has varied in recent years between have zero and one African-American members. Canon (1999) recounts an instance where Carol Moseley Braun, as the lone black member of the Senate, was able to convince 74
represented by a member of their group for increased influence on the overall composition of the legislature. To the Voinovich plaintiffs, being a member of a very safe majority-black district did not represent a democratic or expressive good, but simply a wasted vote. It would seem that these plaintiffs were more content than those in Gomez to feel only “virtually” represented. The simulation model will measure “personal representation” as the ideological distance between a voter and the legislator in that voter’s district. Discursive Representation This is probably the least studied of the dimensions in the context of districting. I am using the term “Discursive Representation” as propounded by Dryzek and Niemeyer in their 2008 APSR article with that title; it is similar to “the politics of presence” as discussed by Canon and other works on racial representation. While the “compositional” measure of representation assumes that each additional marginal legislator contributes equally in their ability to represent an interest, we might also imagine that a single voice within a deliberative body can be uniquely powerful. Indeed, Dryzek and Niemeyer argue “there is no need for proportionality in discursive representation”. But unlike “personal” representation, there is no need for a voter’s interests to be represented discursively by the legislator they elect from their own district; this voice just needs to be present somewhere in the body. The relevance of this dimension to the representation of racial minorities is probably best exemplified by drawing examples from the United Senate, which has varied in recent years between have zero and one African-American members. Canon (1999) recounts an instance where Carol Moseley Braun, as the lone black member of the Senate, was able to convince 74
Chapter-1-Introduction.docx