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talkpoliticsWe all know it's a problem.
This article from Brookings is a good place to start. It doesn't immediately throw accusations of gerrymandering but instead sorts the states according to how representative their districts are.
Both sides used to be happy enough with a round district centered on a city, because that had inner-city for Dems and a larger number of suburban voters they stood a chance with. Cities growing larger however, makes that an unfair way to draw boundaries: the bulls-eye is almost all Democratic and votes are wasted which could have gone to won more swing districts in the state. Dividing inner cities neatly in two is a fairer way (for big cities) and happily enough the Shortest Split Line tends to do that automatically.
Of course, we could make things even simpler and listen to what an impartial foreign outsider would likely have to say on the matter, namely that all partisan gerrymandering should be illegal, and all districting should be done by independent commissions, not lawmakers. But what do I know.
This article from Brookings is a good place to start. It doesn't immediately throw accusations of gerrymandering but instead sorts the states according to how representative their districts are.
Both sides used to be happy enough with a round district centered on a city, because that had inner-city for Dems and a larger number of suburban voters they stood a chance with. Cities growing larger however, makes that an unfair way to draw boundaries: the bulls-eye is almost all Democratic and votes are wasted which could have gone to won more swing districts in the state. Dividing inner cities neatly in two is a fairer way (for big cities) and happily enough the Shortest Split Line tends to do that automatically.
Of course, we could make things even simpler and listen to what an impartial foreign outsider would likely have to say on the matter, namely that all partisan gerrymandering should be illegal, and all districting should be done by independent commissions, not lawmakers. But what do I know.
