Chapter 4 Gerrymandering
This module on Gerrymandering was authored by Sarah Bryant, Beth Campbell-Hetrick, and Kyle Evans.
Gerrymandering is the act of defining the boundaries of electoral districts to benefit a party or politician. In countries where there is a single voting district, such as Israel (see [4.12.37]), or where electoral district boundaries are fixed, such as Sweden (see mention of constituencies in [4.12.36]), this practice is eliminated. However, in many countries it is an ongoing concern when evaluating the fairness of electoral representation. Though it is not a phenomenon unique to the United States of America, this chapter will focus on its history in that country. The term gerrymandering is named after American politician Elbridge Gerry (pronounced with a hard "g"), who, as then-Governor of Massachusetts, signed a bill in 1812 that created a partisan district in the Boston area that was compared to the shape of a salamander. (For more on Gerry and the Massachusetts map, see [4.12.48].)
The practice of gerrymandering is controversial and widely-opposed, but solutions are not easy to find. After all, what defines a “fair” map of electoral districts? How can citizens better understand the underlying issues and use mathematics to support more fairness in voting? In this chapter, we explore these ideas.