Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering is a controversial form of redistricting in which electoral district or constituency boundaries are manipulated for an electoral advantage, usually in the favor of majority-holding incumbents or a specific political party. Gerrymandering may also be used to advantage or disadvantage particular constituents, such as a racial, linguistic, religious or class group. The term gerrymander serves both as a verb meaning to commit gerrymandering as well as a noun describing the resulting electoral geography. Although named after governor Elbridge Gerry, who pronounced his name with a hard G as in "gate", the word gerrymander is usually pronounced with a soft G, as in "gem".

Related Topics:
Redistricting - Electoral district - Constituency - Incumbents - Political party - Elbridge Gerry

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Although all voting systems which use multiple districts as a basis for determining representation are susceptible to gerrymandering, single winner systems where elected politicians are responsible for drawing districts are the most vulnerable. Most notably, gerrymandering is particularly effective in plurality based systems such as first-past-the-post. Among western democracies, only Israel and the Netherlands are free from gerrymandering in the national government, having electoral systems with only one (nationwide) electoral district.

Related Topics:
Voting system - Representation - Single winner system - Plurality - First-past-the-post - Israel - Netherlands

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The term gerrymandering sometimes includes instances of malapportionment, where the electoral rules allow districts to significantly differ in population size. Although the possibility of districts unequal in population can make gerrymandering particularly easy and effective, gerrymandering can still be done when districts are required to have equal representative to population ratios.

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