In a democracy, voters choose their political leaders. In a democracy that permits gerrymandering – when state legislatures draw legislative district lines that maximize the dominant party’s chances of winning seats – elected leaders choose their voters.
Gerrymandering undermines representative government. But it’s nothing new. The term “gerrymander” stretches all the way back to a member of the founding generation: Elbridge Gerry, who as governor of Massachusetts led the effort in the 1810s to rig the state’s legislative districts for the benefit of his fellow Republicans.
