Monopoly Politics 2012 Map
Note: This page displays the Monopoly Politics 2012 flash map and report, released in advance of the 2012 congressional elections. An updated report for the 2014 elections, Monopoly Politics 2014 and the Fair Voting Solution, is available here.
Fair Voting 2012, illustrated below and analyzed here, shows congressional elections as they are and fair representation voting plans for all states.
- Click on 'Partisan Split', 'Competition', and 'Voting Rights' to see district partisanship and its impact
- Click on states and switch between 'State Plans' and 'FairVote Plans' (upper right) for information on states' current plans and the fair voting solution
Read more about our reports below as well as at Monopoly Politics 2012 and Fair Voting 2012.
About Our FairVotingUs.Com Map
FairVotingUS.Com is a unique resource that provides comprehensive, easily accessible information on the partisan landscape for the 2012 elections to the U.S. House of Representatives in all 435 congressional districts. Our report contrasts this landscape with how elections would look after adoption of fair voting: constitutionally-protected, American forms of proportional representation grounded in our own electoral traditions.
Accompanied by detailed analyses and explanations of our methodology, this information also is presented on separate report pages:
- Monopoly Politics 2012, with 2012 district partisanship and election projections for all 435 districts
- Fair Voting 2012, with fair voting plans of proportional representation for all states
Our map allows you to view every state's redistricting map and its implications for partisan outcomes, competition and voting rights. You can compare it with our fair voting plans that better reflect each state's partisan balance, create more competition, and enhance opportunities for all voters, including racial minorities, to elect candidates. (If your browser does not allow you to view this map, please see Monopoly Politics 2012 and Fair Voting 2012).
Map features include:
- Partisan split: This tab measures the underlying partisan landscape of districts as determined by how the district voted for president in 2008 relative to how the nation voted for presdient that year. While nearly always matching which party controls the seat, see our detailed reports for how and why the party controls every district.
- Competition: Competitiveness is measured by district partisanship. "Strong" defines districts where one party has an edge greater than "58%" or lower than 42%. "Lean" means one party has between 54% and 58% backing. "Balanced" defines districts where neither party has an advantage greater than 54%, or lower than 46%.
- Voting rights: We measure whether voters in a given racial minority group have the direct power to elect congressional candidates in current districts. We measure the same factor with proposed fair voting plans.
- Fair voting plans: Fair voting plans rely on "super-districts" that elect between three and five representatives with a candidate-based form of proportional voting. (Note: Our options for fair voting plans were limited due to building super-districts from a state's districts, but they provide a means to show the impact of adopting fair voting.