gerrymander

gerrymander , in politics, rearrangement of voting districts so as to favor the party in power. The objective is to create as many districts as possible in areas of known support and to concentrate the opposition's strength into as few districts as possible. Extremely irregular boundary lines are sometimes necessary to obtain the results desired. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, has placed (1964) the vague limit of "compact districts of contiguous territory" on such apportionment schemes. The origin of the term, though by no means the origin of the practice, was in such an arrangement made by the Massachusetts Jeffersonians when Elbridge Gerry was governor.

Bibliography: See E. C. Griffith, The Rise and Development of the Gerrymander (1907, repr. 1974).

gerrymander Practice of redrawing electoral boundaries to favour a particular party. It is named after Elbridge Gerry, Governor of Massachusetts (1810–12), whose party employed the practice. One of his redefined districts was said to resemble a salamander, hence gerrymander.

gerrymander (orig. U. S.) manipulate election districts unfairly so as to secure disproportionate representation. XIX. f. name of Elbridge Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, who is related to have constructed a district map of the U.S.A. in which the shape of one district suggested to an artist the addition of head, wings, and claws; he exclaimed ‘That will do for a salamander!’, to which another retorted ‘Gerrymander!’