GERRYMANDER

GERRYMANDER. The word "gerrymander" was first used during Elbridge Gerry's second term as governor of Massachusetts, when a bill was passed (11 February 1812) redistricting the state in order to give the Jeffersonian Republicans an advantage in the election of state senators. The name was derived from a caricature representing a strangely shaped three-member Republican district in Essex County as a salamander, which, combined with "gerry," became "gerrymander."

Gerrymandering, the advantage obtained by a certain group through discretionary districting, has applied to congressional, state legislative, and local districts. The purpose of partisan gerrymandering is to strengthen one party by concentrating the opposing party's voters into only a few districts. The purpose of racial gerrymandering is to limit, perhaps to none, the number of districts in which the unfavored group is dominant.

Although the U. S. Supreme Court, from 1964 through the early 2000s, mandated that districts must be essentially equal in population (eliminating the "silent gerrymander," which left urban areas under represented as population shifted), it had yet to limit partisan gerrymandering. Even though criteria for districting, such as contiguity, compactness, and respect for subdivision boundaries, were often required, substantial leeway existed for legislators to safeguard majority party candidates or incumbents of any party. Even districts drawn by neutral commissions or judges could have differential effects. Redistricting by computer usually followed a program set to give advantage to one party.

In the late twentieth century a combination of partisan and racial gerrymandering continued to be widely practiced. This was particularly true in the South, where gerrymandering has been used to create solidly Democratic districts in predominantly African American areas and solidly Republican districts in predominantly white areas. Racial gerrymandering underwent several court challenges during the 1990s. Defenders of racial gerry-mandering argued that it made possible the creation of a

black congressional delegation from the South, whereas critics maintained that it promoted a racial balkanization of American politics.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Griffith, Elmer C. The Rise and Development of the Gerrymander. Chicago: Scott, Foresman, 1907. Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1974.

Lublin, David. The Paradox of Representation: Racial Gerrymandering and Minority Interests in Congress. Princeton, N. J. : Princeton University Press, 1997.

Rush, Mark E. Does Redistricting Make a Difference? Partisan Representation and Electoral Behavior. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.

Charles H.Backstrom

LeonardRobbins/a. g.

See alsoApportionment ; Congress, United States ; Election Laws .