Gerrymandering: Manipulation of District Boundaries

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Gerrymandering according to the text, (Barbour & Wright, 2015, p.195) is the process of drawing district lines to benefit one group or another. Just reading the meaning alone, you can see it not fair. By benefiting one group, you are leaving out or short changing other groups. According to the article (“Gerrymandering – Proving All Politics Is Local│Politics & Policy,” n.d.) gerrymandering works by shaping legislative districts in various ways. Officeholders are able to affect which voters they will be responsible to on election day. The opportunity for this arises out of the once-a-decade district re-apportionment required by a set of 1960s Supreme Court cases. As voters move into different congressional districts, the population in each of …show more content…

Many states consider “communities of interest” when drawing their districts. These groups may have similar legislative interests as well, and that means they can benefit from common representation in the government. But I feel this can be an advantage and disadvantage at the same time because that interest could be what the party is about or what they are trying to stop. But still giving the communities a chance to asks questions and give input should be highly considered since they are what make up the districts. The outcome of who wins may not be what everyone voted for but giving the voters the feeling that they matter is what’s important.
According to the text (Barbour & Wright, 2015, p.195) Racial gerrymandering, is when district lines are drawn to favor or disadvantage an ethnic or racial group while partisan gerrymandering is when districts are drawn to maximize the number of house seats a political party can win. Both of these types of gerrymandering is to benefit a group and hurt another group at the same time. They both discriminate, just one is based on race and the other the political party. In no way is this fair and should not be used to get the political party or candidate they want in

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