Gerrymandering. It’s become the embodiment of so many of the evils in the U.S. political system. Frustrated by the lack of competitive elections? Blame gerrymandering. Appalled by the growing number of ideological extremists in Congress? Blame gerrymandering. What about congressional gridlock? Gerrymandering did it.
But gerrymandering — the drawing of political boundaries for the benefit of one party or group over another — is a far more complex topic than some analysts and partisans care to acknowledge. As our gerrymandering series has shown, there’s no “right” way to draw a district. Prioritize one goal — competitiveness or nonwhite representation, for example — and you have to sacrifice others.
Gerrymandering contributes to issues like the drop in competitive elections, extremism and gridlock, but it’s far from their sole cause. If you want to solve these problems — and the problems themselves are very real — you need to understand what’s really behind them. CONT.
Harry Enten, FiveThirtyEight