4.6 Internal Boundaries

Which of the following is an example of an internal boundary?

• International boundary

• State border

• County line

• City limits

Answer explanation

A line that divides two cities.

Which of the following is true about federalism in the United States?

• Federalism allows for local governments to have control over national policy.

• Federalism allows for national governments to have control over local policy.

• Federalism allows for subdivisions to specialize in specific services.

• Federalism allows for both local and national governments to share power.

Answer explanation

Federalism allows for both local and national governments to share power. This is because under federalism, some laws and policies apply to just a local area and others apply throughout the country. Subdivisions, such as states, serve multiple purposes such as maintaining roads and operating hospitals. Others, such as park districts, are specialized.

Which of the following is an example of electoral geography?

• Creating maps to show population density

• Drawing internal boundaries to divide a country's electorate

• Analyzing voting patterns of people in a district

• Electing leaders to govern on behalf of the electorate

Answer explanation

Drawing internal boundaries to divide a country's electorate. Electoral geography is the use of spatial thinking techniques and tools to analyze elections and voting patterns. Voting districts are internal boundaries that divide a country's electorate into subnational regions, and they exist at multiple scales. Therefore, the example of electoral geography is creating internal boundaries to divide a country's electorate.

Which of the following is the process of redrawing district boundaries to ensure each district contains approximately the same number of people?

• Reapportionment

• Redistricting

• Census

• Population count

Answer explanation

Redistricting is the process of redrawing district boundaries to ensure each district contains approximately the same number of people. Reapportionment is the process of determining each state's number of representatives in the House of Representatives based on the results of the census. A census is a count of the population, and a population count is a count of a population.

Which of the following is not guaranteed to each state in Congress?

• Three members in the House

• Two members in the House

• One member in the Senate

• Two members in the Senate

What is an example of gerrymandering?

• Drawing of political districts based on existing city and county boundaries

• Drawing of political districts to benefit the party in power

• Coining of the term gerrymander by a newspaper editor

• Influencing the drawing of districts by Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry

Answer explanation

A contemporary example of gerrymandering is the recent redistricting of Texas, which was found to be in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The boundaries of the districts were drawn to give an electoral advantage to the Republican party.

Which of the following is a consequence of gerrymandering?

• Increased competition in legislative races

• More balanced representation of the two major parties

• Greater likelihood of members of the same party being elected

• More diverse representation of the two major parties

Which of the following is a result of the 1965 Voting Rights Act?

• Gerrymandering became more prevalent

• Racial disparity in representation was eliminated

• Minority representation in Congress decreased

• Key provisions of the act were no longer needed

Which of the following is one way some states are preventing gerrymandering?

• Creating an independent agency to redraw congressional and legislative voting districts

• Having only one party draw the boundaries

• Making sure each state has an equal number of members of each party

• Increasing the number of representatives in each district

Answer explanation

Creating an independent agency to redraw congressional and legislative voting districts. This is supported by the passage, which states that some states use bipartisan committees with equal members of each party, plus independents to draw the boundaries, and that in 1980, Iowa created a nonpartisan agency to redraw congressional and legislative voting districts.