top of page
gerrymander cartoon.tif
Origins
gerrymander cartoon.png

The Gerrymander

  • The art of redistricting for political advantage

  • Instead of voters choosing a politician, a politician chooses his voters

  • A portmanteau combination of Gerry and Salamander

  • Looks more like a dragon to me

  • More chicanery than great art

By Elkanah Tisdale (1771-1835)

This website aspires to be St. George

​​​​​Why now?

  • With computers, politicians can now pick their voters, ending competitiveness

  • Because, there is no inter-party competition in many place, the only fear a politician has is the dread primary. 

  • This increases partisan division and extremism. 

  • Concern over redistricting crowds out the responsibility of governance​

  • Increases instances of one party rule which is frequently inefficient and corrupt

image.png
image_edited.jpg

How is gerrymandering done?  (Thuis section largely generated by WIX AI)

Gerrymandering occurs when political parties draw district lines in a way that gives them an advantage. This can happen in several ways:

 

  • • Packing: This involves concentrating voters of one party into a single district. This means that they win that district, but their votes are wasted in other districts.

  • • Cracking: This is the opposite of packing. It involves spreading voters of one party across many districts. This dilutes their voting power, making it harder for them to win any district.

 

​ These tactics can lead to bizarrely shaped districts that do not reflect the actual communities within them. For example, a district might snake around neighborhoods, connecting areas that have little in common, just to ensure a particular party's advantage.

 

The Impact of Gerrymandering:  Gerrymandering has serious consequences for our republic.

  1. Unfair Representation: When district lines are drawn to favor one party, the voices of voters from the opposing party are often silenced. This leads to a lack of true representation in government and greater opportunities for corrution

  2.  Polarization: Gerrymandered districts can create safe seats for one party. This means that elected officials may not feel the need to appeal to a broader range of voters. As a result, political polarization can increase, making it harder for parties to work together.

  3. Voter Disillusionment: When people feel that their votes do not matter because of gerrymandering, they may become disillusioned with the electoral process. This can lead to lower voter turnout and engagement.

  4. Inequality: Gerrymandering can exacerbate social and economic inequalities. When certain groups are consistently underrepresented, their needs and concerns may be ignored in policy decisions.

The animating ideas of this website

  • You cannot set up an unique mathematical solution which works well everywhere.
     

  • The amendment aspires to set up a sure method to reach a very good solution.
     

  • A would-be gerrymanderer must now come up with a better mathematical fit than his opponents, not just have a larger steamroller.
     

  • A would-be gerrymandered can easily defend his own seat, but not easily defend his party’s seats. Every man for himself will create a better result than lining up the larger battallions.
     

  • By analogy, this follows the superiority of Adam Smith to Karl Marx.
     

Gerry.png

Gerrymander’s History
Elbridge Gerry 1744-1814

  • Drafted the original gerrymander

  • One of seven forgotten Vice Presidents to die in office

  • Governor of Massachusetts

  • Signer of the Declaration of Independence

  • Helped draft bill of rights

  • Only remembered today because of the political cartoon​​​

Other Sources

  • https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6777516/ is an article in peer-reviewwed literature which works through using a computer algorithm based on pair-wise minimization to get a most compact equal set of districts.  The method ignores travel distance and local boundaries.

  •  

  • https://mggg.org/work :  a substantial project by a group of mathematicians including (led by?) Dr. Lune Duchin which explores the mathematics behind redistricting and gerrymandering and possible mathematical solutions.

 

​

  • https://protectdemocracy.org/work/how-to-end-gerrymandering/  the Protect Democracy Project  (an anti-Trump organization) proposes to get rid of gerrymandering by getting rid of districts and allowing each party to pick its proportional share of representatives.  This is the method which is used in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.  It ends local representation,  provides representation to groups with few but intense followers, and intensifies the importance of parties.  It claims it would not need a constitutional amendment.

bottom of page