Skip to main content
skip

Search form


  • About
    • About
    • Why the Ford School?
    • Legacy of Gerald Ford
    • Diversity commitment
    • Engagement
    • Global Ford School
    • Ford School Committee
    • Jobs
    • Contact us
    • Ford School Centennial
  • Academics
    • Academics
    • Course listing
    • Master's programs
    • Undergraduate program
    • Doctoral program
    • Academic resources
    • STPP Grad Certificate
    • PPIA program
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Tuition and residency
    • Planning your visit
    • Request more information
  • Careers & internships
    • Careers & internships
    • Undergraduates
    • Graduate students
    • Why hire from the Ford School?
    • Policy Grads at work
  • Research & action
    • Research
    • Faculty experts
    • Visiting policymakers
    • Research centers
    • Faculty publications
    • Research publications
  • Student life
    • Student life
    • Student organizations
    • Housing
    • Ann Arbor
  • News & events
    • News & events
    • News
    • Events
    • Publications
    • Video
    • Social media
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Why give
    • Where to give
    • How to give
    • Class gift
  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty/Staff
  • Employers
  • Policymakers & Press
  • Alumni
    • Alumni
    • Alumni events
    • Stay connected
    • Staebler Award
    • Alumni Board
Ford School Home PageThe Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan
  • Request a room
  • People
  • Intranet

Search form

  • About
    • About
    • Why the Ford School?
    • Legacy of Gerald Ford
    • Diversity commitment
    • Engagement
    • Global Ford School
    • Ford School Committee
    • Jobs
    • Contact us
    • Ford School Centennial
  • Academics
    • Academics
    • Course listing
    • Master's programs
    • Undergraduate program
    • Doctoral program
    • Academic resources
    • STPP Grad Certificate
    • PPIA program
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Tuition and residency
    • Planning your visit
    • Request more information
  • Careers & internships
    • Careers & internships
    • Undergraduates
    • Graduate students
    • Why hire from the Ford School?
    • Policy Grads at work
  • Research & Action
    • Research
    • Faculty experts
    • Visiting policymakers
    • Research centers
    • Faculty publications
    • Research publications
  • Student life
    • Student life
    • Student organizations
    • Housing
    • Ann Arbor
  • News & events
    • News & events
    • News
    • Events
    • Publications
    • Video
    • Social media
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Why give
    • Where to give
    • How to give
    • Class gift
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Schwarz fights to end gerrymandering, Chamberlin on redistricting challenges

News


  • Upcoming Events
  • Past Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Social media
  • Upcoming Events
  • Past Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Social media

Schwarz fights to end gerrymandering, Chamberlin on redistricting challenges

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Two Ford School faculty members were quoted in a December 7, 2017 article from the Battle Creek Enquirer, titled “Joe Schwarz champions push to end gerrymandering.”

Former congressman and long-time Ford School lecturer Joe Schwarz is advocating for a 2018 ballot initiative to reform Michigan’s redistricting process, which has been supported by a group called Voters Not Politicians.

Michigan is “one of the most gerrymandered states in the union… Battle Creek is an utterly perfect example,” Schwarz says. Battle Creek has been redistricted several times in the past three decades, after having been placed in a district with Kalamazoo for much of the 20th century.

The ballot initiative would change congressional and state legislative redistricting from being the responsibility of state legislators (which allows political parties to have a major influence on the shape of districts) to the responsibility of a bipartisan commission made up of four Democrats, four Republicans, and five non-partisan members – all selected at random by the Secretary of State’s office.

Schwarz believes that such a commission would produce legislative district maps that more accurately reflect voters in Michigan, who he says are roughly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. 

Supporting that point is Professor Emeritus John Chamberlin, who points out that while there will be limits to what a new redistricting commission will be able to achieve, because of phenomena like geographic clustering of voters, “it’s hard to imagine that an independent commission wouldn’t have yielded results closer to a 50-50 split.”

--By Jackson Voss (MPP '18)

Share This
Tags: 
Domestic policy, Ethics, Politics, John Chamberlin, Joe Schwarz, Voters Not Politicians, Battle Creek, redistricting, gerrymandering, Joe Schwarz, Michigan

Related News

View All
Feb 13, 2018
Joe Schwarz receives Student Veterans of America Lifetime Achievement Award
The Student Veterans of America at the University of... more
Dec 29, 2017
Catch up on Ford School faculty news in the Fall 2017 edition of State & Hill magazine
Tamar Mitts and Robert Axelrod participated in a trilateral... more

Related events

View All
Apr
20
Heath, History, Demography & Development (H2D2): Research Day
The Economics Department at the University of Michigan will... more

Related Past Events

View All
Feb
21
Climate Change in the Great Lakes Basin: Policy Options and Public Opinion
Free and open to the public. Panelists: Christopher Borick... more
2011 - 
  • 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Mar
19
Michigan's Controversial Emergency Manager Law: A panel discussion on fundamental issues of governance
Free and open to the public. Auditorium doors will open at... more
2012 - 
  • 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm

RESOURCES FOR:

  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty/Staff
  • Employers
  • Policymakers & Press
  • Alumni
UMFS Ford School Link

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

University of Michigan

735 South State Street | Ann Arbor, MI 48109

P: 734-764-3490 | F: 734-763-9181

Twitter
Facebook
Google Plus
Pinterest
Flickr
Youtube
How to Give
**APPAM** **APSIA** **NASPAA** **PPIA**

About

  • About
  • Why the Ford School?
  • Legacy of Gerald Ford
  • Diversity commitment
  • Engagement
  • Global Ford School
  • Ford School Committee
  • Jobs
  • Contact us
  • Ford School Centennial

Academics

  • Academics
  • Course listing
  • Master's programs
  • Undergraduate program
  • Doctoral program
  • Academic resources
  • STPP Grad Certificate
  • PPIA program

Admissions

  • Admissions
  • Tuition and residency
  • Planning your visit
  • Request more information

Careers & internships

  • Careers & internships
  • Undergraduates
  • Graduate students
  • Why hire from the Ford School?
  • Policy Grads at work

Student life

  • Student life
  • Student organizations
  • Housing
  • Ann Arbor

Research & Action

  • Research
  • Faculty experts
  • Visiting policymakers
  • Research centers
  • Faculty publications
  • Research publications

News & events

  • News & events
  • News
  • Events
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Social media

Giving

  • Giving
  • Why give
  • Where to give
  • How to give
  • Class gift

Alumni

  • Alumni
  • Alumni events
  • Stay connected
  • Staebler Award
  • Alumni Board

Intranet

Ford School Home Page© The Regents of the University of Michigan | Non-discrimination policy | U-M | Webmaster | Sitemap | Contact