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ERIC Number: EJ747383
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 16
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-1341
EISSN: N/A
Representation, Geographic Districting, and Social Justice
Webster, Gerald R.
Journal of Geography, v103 n3 111-126 2004
The United States is undergoing rapid demographic change leading to growing racial, ethnic, religious and economic diversity in our classrooms. Our students can be sensitized to this growing diversity through exposure to the concept of social justice. The purpose of this article is to provide examples of how social justice issues can be included in classroom discussions of the American system of political representation. For this purpose, it examines selected aspects of the redistricting process. It points out that our historic reliance upon the winner-take-all single-member district system of electing representatives to legislative bodies limits the opportunity for minority groups to be fairly represented. It also provides an overview of the impact of the criminal justice system upon fair political representation. The article concludes with an example of a classroom exercise to demonstrate its major points.
National Council for Geographic Education. Jacksonville State University, 206A Martin Hall, Jacksonville, AL 36265-1602. Tel: 256-782-5293; Fax: 256-782-5336; e-mail: ncge@ncge.org; Web site: http://www.ncge.org/publications/journal/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A