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Evaluating the Geographic Compactness of Representational Districts

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Abstract

The federal Constitution requires that a census of the population in the United States be completed at the beginning of each decade. The results of these enumerations are used to “reapportion” or reallocate the seats, now limited to a total of 435, in the House of Representatives among the states. As a result of the 2000 Census of Population, for example, New York and Pennsylvania each had their delegations reduced by two seats while Florida and Texas each increased their presence in Congress by two Representatives.

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Donald G. Janelle Barney Warf Kathy Hansen

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© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Webster, G.R. (2004). Evaluating the Geographic Compactness of Representational Districts. In: Janelle, D.G., Warf, B., Hansen, K. (eds) WorldMinds: Geographical Perspectives on 100 Problems. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2352-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2352-1_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-1613-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-2352-1

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