Who was gerrymandering named after?

Who was gerrymandering named after?

Gerrymandering is when a political group tries to change a voting district to create a result that helps them or hurts the group who is against them. It is named after Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814).

Which politician is the word gerrymander named for?

The first “gerrymander” was drawn on a map and signed into law on February 11, 1812. Elbridge Gerry, then governor of Massachusetts, signed into law a redistricting plan designed to keep his political party in power in the upcoming election.

When was gerrymandering invented?

What may be the first use of the term to describe the redistricting in another state (Maryland) occurred in the Federal Republican (Georgetown, Washington, DC) on October 12, 1812. There are at least 80 known citations of the word from March through December 1812 in American newspapers.

What does the gerrymander cartoon mean?

It is a political cartoon that depicts a bizarrely shaped congressional district in Massachusetts in 1812 created solely to keep the incumbent congressmen in office by “rigging” (if you will) the election by having a significant majority of same-party voters in the district.

What is the origin for the name gerrymandering?

“Gerrymandering” was named for Elbridge Gerry, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. As Governor of Massachusetts (1810–1812), Gerry approved a redistricting plan for the state senate that gave the political advantage to Republicans.

What happened in Shaw v Reno in terms of gerrymandering?

Reno, 509 U.S. 630 (1993), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in the area of redistricting and racial gerrymandering. The court ruled in a 5-4 decision that redistricting based on race must be held to a standard of strict scrutiny under the equal protection clause.

What is packing a district?

“Packing” is concentrating many voters of one type into a single electoral district to reduce their influence in other districts.

What is a synonym for gerrymandering?

ˈdʒɛriːˌmændɝ) Divide unfairly and to one’s advantage; of voting districts. Antonyms. attach associate unite common. separate divide.

What happened in Baker v Carr in terms of gerrymandering?

Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that redistricting qualifies as a justiciable question under the Fourteenth Amendment, thus enabling federal courts to hear Fourteenth Amendment-based redistricting cases.

Where did the word gerrymandering come from?

The term gerrymandering is derived from Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), the governor of Massachusetts from 1810 to 1812.

What is the history behind gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering in the United States has been used as early as 1788 to increase the power of a political party; the term “gerrymandering” was coined on review of Massachusetts’s redistricting maps of 1812 set by Governor Elbridge Gerry , so named for its resemblance to a salamander .

What are three types of gerrymandering?

The three types of gerrymandering are excess vote, wasted vote and stacked. The excess vote method concentrates the voting power of the opposite party into very few districts, meaning the party’s overall influence is reduced.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries to create partisan advantaged districts. The pros are that under represented groups can have a voice. The disadvantage is that the politicians, instead of neutral statisticians, get to decide.