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Axiomatic districting

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  • Clemens Puppe
  • Attila Tasnádi

Abstract

We study the districting problem from an axiomatic point of view in a framework with two parties, deterministic voter preferences and geographical constraints. The axioms are normatively motivated and reflect a notion of fairness to voters. Our main result is an “impossibility” theorem demonstrating that all anonymous districting rules are necessarily complex in the sense that they either use information beyond the mere number of districts won by the parties, or they violate an appealing consistency requirement according to which an acceptable districting rule should induce an acceptable districting of appropriate subregions. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Clemens Puppe & Attila Tasnádi, 2015. "Axiomatic districting," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 44(1), pages 31-50, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sochwe:v:44:y:2015:i:1:p:31-50
    DOI: 10.1007/s00355-014-0824-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stephen Coate & Brian Knight, 2007. "Socially Optimal Districting: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1409-1471.
    2. Timothy Besley & Ian Preston, 2007. "Electoral Bias and Policy Choice: Theory and Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1473-1510.
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    6. Chambers, Christopher P., 2009. "An axiomatic theory of political representation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 144(1), pages 375-389, January.
    7. Chambers, Christopher P., 2008. "Consistent representative democracy," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 348-363, March.
    8. Attila Tasnádi, 2011. "The political districting problem: A survey," Society and Economy, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 33(3), pages 543-554, December.
    9. Faruk Gul & Wolfgang Pesendorfer, 2010. "Strategic Redistricting," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1616-1641, September.
    10. Chambers, Christopher P. & Miller, Alan D., 2013. "Measuring legislative boundaries," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 268-275.
    11. John N. Friedman & Richard T. Holden, 2008. "Optimal Gerrymandering: Sometimes Pack, but Never Crack," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 113-144, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Katsuya Kobayashi & Attila Tasnádi, 2019. "Gerrymandering in a hierarchical legislature," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 253-279, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Districting; Gerrymandering; Normative political analysis; D72;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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