A Reply to “What to Do about Turnout Bias in American Elections”

Authors

  • Kenneth A. Wink
  • Ronald E. Weber

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.2006.27.0.261-266

Abstract

Thomas Brunell (2006a) critiques our article, “Do Democrats and Republicans Pay the Same Price for Seats in U.S. State Lower House Elections” (Wink and Weber 2005). We found that partisan turnout bias exists in state lower-house elections, and mostly the turnout bias favors Democratic Party candidates. Brunell does not dispute our findings on distributional bias or take issue with our methodology; rather, his main argument is that turnout bias is not significant enough to warrant concern from legislative parties or the courts. In our reply, we elaborate on our earlier proposition that turnout bias is important in American legislative elections. We also take issue with some of the assumptions made by Brunell in which he argues in favor of “sweetheart gerrymandering” as a solution to the partisan gerrymandering woes that have so frequently accompanied recent legislative redistrictings. Far from being tangential to our argument about turnout bias, Brunell’s affinity for the sweetheart gerrymander reveals his understanding of the broader context in which redistricting concerns should be addressed, and his position on a remedy for partisan gerrymandering is one with which we disagree.

References

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Published

2006-11-01

Issue

Vol. 27: Fall 2006

Section

Articles

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