Gerrymandering Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Gerrymandering, a pejorative term, earned its name from the fifth U.S. vice president, Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814). While Elbridge Gerry was serving as governor of Massachusetts from 1810 to 1812, the Massachusetts legislature, which was controlled by the Democratic-Republicans, changed the district boundaries in Essex County in order to weaken the political fortunes of the county’s Federalists. After redistricting, a local newspaper said the new district had the shape of a salamander, so the newspaper creatively merged Elbridge Gerry’s last name with the shape of the district and referred to it as a “gerrymander.”

Political scientist Leroy Hardy defines gerrymander as “a technique used for partisan purpose in the creation of constituencies . . . [that entails] the consolidation of opposition strength [in an] arbitrary [or] unnatural” manner. The political party in control develops “safe seats” that cannot be challenged by their opponents, thereby limiting strength of the opposition.

Since its first use in 1812, the term has become commonplace in politics. The U.S. Constitution provides the states with the authority to redraw district lines in order to ensure equality of representation. Political parties and state legislators eagerly wait to redraw congressional and state districts in order to protect their partisan turf, weaken their opposition, stake out new territory for their respective parties, and disadvantage certain groups within the electorate.

If a district is redrawn for partiality on the basis of partisanship, race, religion, or economics, it has been gerrymandered, and the constitutionality of the new district is called into question. The U.S. Supreme Court determines whether claims of gerrymandering in redrawn voting districts are legitimate. This determination can be a difficult task, with the ultimate criterion being to ensure fairness. Technological innovations, such as geographic innovation systems (GIS), have made it easier for the politically savvy to devise various redistricting plans that undercut the strictest rules for impartial redistricting, allowing the system to continue to be manipulated to produce gerrymandered districts.

The U.S. Supreme Court has grappled with the issues of defining fairness and what constitutes a gerrymander, and no definitive definition has been provided for the latter. At one time the Supreme Court refused to hear cases that claimed political gerrymandering, because the justices believed that it was not the Court’s responsibility to make decisions regarding political matters. However, since gerrymandering can encompass redistricting based on economics, race, and religion, the Supreme Court has begun to consider the constitutionality of redistricting efforts. In Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U.S. 109 (1986), the Supreme Court began to consider the question of partisan gerrymandering in redistricting when they argued, “Each political group in a State should have the same chance to elect representatives of its choice as any other political group.”

One should not confuse redistricting with gerrymandering. These are two different concepts. Redistricting can occur without resorting to gerrymandering; however, there can be no gerrymandering without redistricting. Redistricting takes place when a voting district’s boundaries are redrawn for the purposes of equalizing representation among constituents. According to Mark Rush, a political science professor at Washington and Lee University, gerrymandering is more accurately

the alteration of district lines in order to deny or impair the representational opportunity of a group of voters who, under other circumstances (i.e., a different districting plan), could, if they so desired, coalesce to ensure the election of a candidate who would serve as their delegate to a legislative assembly. (1993)

Gerrymandering is exemplified by the controversial redistricting that occurred in Texas in 2003.Tom DeLay, a Republican U.S. representative, assisted in redesigning his state’s election districts in order to ensure that Texas’s congressional delegation became more Republican.

Bibliography:

Curry, M. R. “On the Possibility of Democracy in a Geocoded World: GIS and Redistricting.” Social Science Computer Review 17, no. 1 (1999): 10–15.
Galderisi, Peter F. Redistricting in the New Millennium. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005.
Grofman, Bernard, and Arend Lijphart. Political Gerrymandering and the Courts. New York: Agathon Press, 1990.
Hardy, Leroy, Alan Heslop, and Stuart Anderson, eds. Reapportionment Politics: The History of Redistricting in the 50 States. Beverly Hills, Ca.: Sage Publications, 1981.
Rush, Mark E. Does Redistricting Make a Difference?: Partisan Representation and Electoral Behavior. Baltimore:The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.

This example Gerrymandering Essay is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.