Geography · 9th Grade · Political Geography and Conflict · Weeks 19-27

Gerrymandering and Electoral Geography

Investigating how the drawing of political boundaries affects voting outcomes in the US.

• Common Core State Standards
• C3: D2.Civ.5.9-12
• C3: D2.Geo.3.9-12

About This Topic

Gerrymandering is the deliberate manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor one political party, racial group, or incumbent candidate. The term dates to 1812, when Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a reapportionment bill that created a district shaped like a salamander, but the practice predates and far outlasts its naming. For 9th graders studying political geography, gerrymandering is a case study in how the drawing of lines on a map directly determines who holds political power.

In the US context, Congressional redistricting occurs every 10 years following the census and is typically controlled by state legislatures. The result is a system where politicians effectively choose their own voters rather than voters choosing their politicians. Racial gerrymandering and partisan gerrymandering are distinct legal concepts in US constitutional law, with different levels of judicial scrutiny. The debate over independent redistricting commissions reflects a broader question: can any process for drawing electoral maps be genuinely neutral?

Active analysis of real district maps, combined with the challenge of drawing alternative maps, makes the abstract impact of gerrymandering immediately visible. Students who try to draw a 'fair' district quickly discover that geographic and demographic constraints make neutrality far harder than it sounds.

Key Questions

1. Justify who should be responsible for drawing Congressional districts.
2. Analyze how gerrymandering impacts the representation of minority groups.
3. Evaluate whether it is possible to create a 'fair' political map.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze how the geographic distribution of voters influences the outcome of elections in a given district.
• Evaluate the fairness of a Congressional district map based on established criteria, such as compactness and contiguity.
• Create an alternative district map for a given state, justifying design choices based on principles of representation.
• Compare the effects of partisan and racial gerrymandering on minority representation using case studies.

Before You Start

US Census and Population Distribution

Why: Students need to understand how population data is collected and how it changes over time to grasp the basis for redistricting.

Branches of US Government and Elections

Why: Understanding the roles of Congress, state legislatures, and the voting process is fundamental to understanding how district lines affect representation.

Key Vocabulary

Gerrymandering	The practice of drawing electoral district boundaries to favor one political party, group, or incumbent.
Redistricting	The process of redrawing electoral district boundaries, typically done every 10 years after the census to reflect population changes.
Contiguity	The requirement that all parts of a district must be connected geographically.
Compactness	A principle of district drawing that favors shapes that are as close to a square or circle as possible, minimizing irregular boundaries.
Partisan Gerrymandering	Drawing district lines to give one political party an advantage over another.
Racial Gerrymandering	Drawing district lines to dilute or concentrate the voting power of a racial or ethnic group.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Gerrymandering only benefits Republicans.

What to Teach Instead

Both major parties have gerrymandered districts when they controlled state legislatures. Maryland, Illinois, and New Mexico have been cited as examples of Democrat-favoring gerrymanders. While the scale and effect vary by state, the practice is bipartisan in history even when one party may benefit more in a specific cycle.

Common Misconception

Creating majority-minority districts is always a form of racial gerrymandering.

What to Teach Instead

The Voting Rights Act explicitly requires the creation of majority-minority districts in some contexts to ensure fair representation for historically disenfranchised groups. There is a legal distinction between race-conscious districting required by federal law and unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. The line between them has been extensively litigated in the Supreme Court.

Common Misconception

An independent commission automatically produces fair districts.

What to Teach Instead

Even nonpartisan commissions face genuine geographic trade-offs: compactness, contiguity, equal population, and majority-minority requirements can conflict with each other. 'Fair' is not a single measurable standard but a set of competing criteria. Students who draw their own districts discover this quickly.

Active Learning Ideas

Mapping Lab: Draw Your Own District

Provide a simplified grid map of a fictional city with demographic and political data for each block. Student pairs must draw five districts that create as many competitive districts as possible, then redraw the same map to give one party a maximum advantage. Comparing their two maps makes the mechanics of gerrymandering concrete and immediate.

35 min·Pairs

Gallery Walk: Famous Gerrymanders Through History

Post maps of five historically significant gerrymandered districts (the original Gerry salamander, North Carolina's 1992 12th Congressional District, Maryland's 3rd, Texas's DeLay redistricting, and a recent state legislative example). Students annotate each map with what electoral outcome the shape was designed to produce and what geographic or demographic manipulation technique was used.

20 min·Small Groups

Structured Academic Controversy: Who Should Draw the Lines?

Groups of four debate two positions: (A) state legislatures should control redistricting because elected officials are democratically accountable, versus (B) independent nonpartisan commissions should draw districts because elected officials have a conflict of interest. After advocating their assigned positions, pairs switch and advocate the opposite, then collaborate on a joint recommendation with geographic and democratic justification.

40 min·Small Groups

Data Analysis: Efficiency Gap and Packing vs. Cracking

Provide students with simplified vote share data from a gerrymandered and a non-gerrymandered state. Students calculate the efficiency gap (simplified version) for each, then classify districts as 'packed' (concentrating opposition voters) or 'cracked' (diluting them across multiple districts). Class discusses whether the efficiency gap is a reliable measure of fairness.

30 min·Small Groups

Real-World Connections

• Political scientists and cartographers at organizations like the Brennan Center for Justice analyze proposed redistricting maps, using demographic data and mapping software to identify potential gerrymandering and advocate for fair representation.
• Voters in swing states, such as North Carolina or Pennsylvania, directly experience the impact of gerrymandering as district lines can predetermine election outcomes, influencing which candidates have a realistic chance of winning.
• Lawyers specializing in election law frequently litigate gerrymandering cases, arguing before state and federal courts about the constitutionality of district maps and their impact on voting rights.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

Provide students with a simplified map of a fictional state and population data. Ask them to draw one district that is 'packed' (concentrating opposition voters) and one that is 'cracked' (splitting opposition voters across multiple districts), labeling each and briefly explaining the strategy.

Discussion Prompt

Pose the question: 'Given the challenges of creating a perfectly neutral map, what criteria should be prioritized when drawing district lines (e.g., compactness, contiguity, representation of communities of interest)?' Facilitate a debate where students defend their chosen priorities.

Quick Check

Show students two sample district maps for the same area. Ask them to identify which map is more likely gerrymandered and to provide at least two specific visual or data-based reasons for their choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is gerrymandering and how does it work?

Gerrymandering is the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor a particular party, candidate, or demographic group. It works through two main techniques: 'packing,' which concentrates opposition voters into a small number of districts so they win by large margins but influence fewer seats overall, and 'cracking,' which splits opposition voters across multiple districts so they form a minority in each.

How does gerrymandering affect minority representation in Congress?

Gerrymandering can either protect or undermine minority representation depending on how it is applied. Racial gerrymandering that dilutes minority votes by cracking communities across districts reduces representation. Majority-minority districts, created to comply with the Voting Rights Act, concentrate minority voters to ensure representation. Courts have distinguished between these uses, though the line remains contested.

Who is responsible for drawing Congressional districts in the United States?

In most states, the state legislature draws Congressional and state legislative district maps, typically after each decennial census. A growing number of states use independent or bipartisan redistricting commissions instead. The specific process varies by state, and the US Supreme Court has limited federal judicial review of purely partisan gerrymandering while maintaining oversight of racial gerrymandering.

Can active learning help students understand something as technical as redistricting?

District drawing is uniquely well-suited to active learning because the geographic trade-offs become visible the moment students try to draw maps themselves. No lecture about compactness, packing, and cracking is as effective as giving students a demographic map and asking them to draw five competitive districts. The frustration of discovering that there is no clean solution is itself the lesson.