The Rose Institute of State and Local Government, a research center at CMC focused on government and politics, released a ground-breaking and timely new website devoted to political redistricting on Feb 23. The project, Redistricting in America, was developed largely by students working at the Institute and includes interactive maps, data, news, and history on congressional redistricting across the country.

The release of the web site coincides with this year’s decennial redrawing of congressional districts around the country, which will be based on data collected in the 2010 Census.

“It will not happen again on a national scale until 2021,” said Andrew Busch, Rose Institute Director and CMC Associate Dean of Faculty.

The site will include information from a variety of sources, including analysis from the Institute itself, and allows viewers to access information in one comprehensive place. There is also a section on the website with information from relevant Supreme Court cases.

“We are using new mapping techniques and new media to incredible advantage,” said Ken Miller, CMC Associate Director of the Rose Institute and Associate Professor of Politics. “[Redistricting in America] organizes a huge amount of information on redistricting and presents it in a very user-friendly way.”

Jacinth Sohi CMC ‘11, a student manager at the Rose Institute who worked on the technical side of the site, stated the new website will bring thoroughness to the Institute’s analysis.

“We provide our own political analysis and aggregate other media stories and redistricting data,” Sohi said. “Our aim was to provide a more complete picture of redistricting and its impact, aside from just maps and figures.”

According to Sohi, Redistricting in America will be important for legislators, academics, and journalists, as well as anyone curious about redistricting.

“We want to be a source that anyone can use, especially students, educators and the general public,” he said.

Miller added that the information is provided in an accessible format.

“The site will certainly provide the public with education on an arcane but important area of representative government,” he said.

According to Miller, positive early reviews by Politico, The Washington Post, Congressional Quarterly and MSNBC’s Chuck Todd suggested that the site would reach a large audience.

According to John J. Pitney, Jr., Roy P. Crocker Professor of American Politics at CMC, redistricting is a vital matter in elections.

“Redistricting decides who gets to vote for whom,” he said. “It defines constituencies, and thus the interests and political pressures to which lawmakers respond.”

According to Pitney, the site’s user-friendly interface and an unprecedented level of comprehensiveness are what make Redistricting in America such a unique resource.

“The interactive map gives a great overview of the process. The site also provides detailed maps and background information on each state,” he said. “The news update is one-stop shopping for the latest information on redistricting across the country.”

Busch echoed these sentiments, attributing the site’s appeal to “the breadth of information that is provided, and the technical features that present the information.”

Expected changes to district lines resulting from the new census data mean that the site will exist as a dynamic, up-to-date resource, Sohi said.

“As soon as lines start being redrawn, we’ll be following all those updates and providing our own analysis about what we expect to happen, as well as the impacts of new districts,” he said. “We will be keeping the site current with any new developments and will also be providing new educational tools to help others understand the redistricting process.”

One of the most well-known and controversial aspects of redistricting is gerrymandering, which involves dividing districts in a manner that gives a candidate or party an unfair advantage. According to Redistricting in America, gerrymandering along racial lines was largely stopped by the Voting Rights Act, but other forms continue.

“There is a potential for gerrymandering whenever elected officials pick their voters. In some cases, it’s subtle; in other cases it’s blatant,” said Pitney, who pointed out that neither of the major political parties are innocent in this matter. “Democrats do it; see California’s ‘Burtonmander’ in the 1980s. Republicans do it; see the Tom DeLay remap of Texas in the previous decade.”

Busch said the Redistricting in America project resulted from hours of work from undergraduates working closely with faculty and fellows at the Institute.

“With advice from Rose Institute Fellow Doug Johnson CMC ‘92 and senior staff, students designed the site and collected, double-checked, and managed the information,” he said. “The site is the culmination of a process that took several months.”

“The credit for this site really goes to the students at the Rose Institute and senior fellow Doug Johnson,” Miller said. “They had a vision for this project and executed it beautifully.”

According to students involved with the project, Rose Institute New Media Manager Mike Whatley CMC ‘11 also played a large role in collecting content for the web site.

The Rose Institute’s other projects focus on government and political policies, with an emphasis on demographics and redistricting research. Past studies have included an evaluation of the potential political impact of Proposition 24, as well as a collaboration to produce a cost of doing business survey with Kosmont Companies, a development services firm.