Gerrymandering, explained

13 Cards

EDITED BY Andrew Prokop

2014-08-05 00:06:34 -0400

  1. What is gerrymandering?
  2. How does gerrymandering work?
  3. Who actually does the gerrymandering?
  4. Where does the term gerrymandering come from?
  5. How important is gerrymandering to Republican control of the House?
  6. Does gerrymandering cause political polarization?
  7. Are Republicans the only ones who gerrymander?
  8. What is racial gerrymandering?
  9. What are the most gerrymandered House delegations?
  10. In a fair electoral map, should vote share always match seat share?
  11. Are there reforms that can prevent gerrymandering?
  12. How do other countries handle redistricting?
  13. What else should I read about gerrymandering?

  1. Card 1 of 13

    What is gerrymandering?

    In the US, every state elects a certain number of people to the House of Representatives — a number that's based on the Census count of the state's population. Pennsylvania, for instance, elects 18 House members. So Pennsylvania has to be divided into 18 congressional districts with roughly equal populations. In most US states, this process is controlled by the majority party in the state legislature.

    Partisan gerrymandering occurs when this map-drawing process is intentionally used to benefit a particular political party — to help that party win more seats in the legislature, or more easily protect the ones it has. The goal is to create many districts that will elect members of one party, and only a few that will elect members of the opposite party. You can see Pennsylvania's Congressional district map below:

    Pa_districts

    You'll notice that's not a very clean map. It's full of jagged edges and weird outcroppings and sharp turns. That's no accident. The map was drawn by Pennsylvania's Republicans in 2010, and it did its job: though Democrats won the state's popular vote in 2012, Pennsylvania sent more Republicans (red) than Democrats (blue) to Congress:

    Pa_us_house

    (Eric Ostermeier, PoliticsPA.com)

    To be exact, though House Republicans won only 49 percent of Pennsylvania's popular vote, they won 72 percent of its House seats. And in 2014, the party breakdown of the state's House seats stayed exactly the same.

    Gerrymandering can affect any legislative body that has to have districts drawn — which includes both the US House of Representatives, and every state legislature. And since political power is at stake, fights over redistricting are often quite intense.

    The term gerrymandering is also sometimes used to describe somewhat different redistricting scenarios. Racial gerrymandering can mean the dilution of the voting power of certain racial or demographic groups, which is usually entangled with seeking partisan advantage. And a bipartisan gerrymander is a redistricting meant to protect incumbents of both parties.

    The story of how gerrymandering got its name is actually pretty interesting. You can read it here.

  2. Card 2 of 13

    How does gerrymandering work?

  3. Card 3 of 13

    Who actually does the gerrymandering?

  4. Card 4 of 13

    Where does the term gerrymandering come from?

  5. Card 5 of 13

    How important is gerrymandering to Republican control of the House?

  6. Card 6 of 13

    Does gerrymandering cause political polarization?

  7. Card 7 of 13

    Are Republicans the only ones who gerrymander?

  8. Card 8 of 13

    What is racial gerrymandering?

  9. Card 9 of 13

    What are the most gerrymandered House delegations?

  10. Card 10 of 13

    In a fair electoral map, should vote share always match seat share?

  11. Card 11 of 13

    Are there reforms that can prevent gerrymandering?

  12. Card 12 of 13

    How do other countries handle redistricting?

  13. Card 13 of 13

    What else should I read about gerrymandering?