Government and politics concepts · AP U.S. Government and Politics, AP U.S. History
Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering: Drawing electoral district boundaries to give an advantage to a political party or group.
By the CollegePrepRoom editorial team · Updated · How we write and check these pages
What it means
Partisan gerrymandering concentrates or spreads out opposing voters to maximize one party's seats. Racial gerrymandering draws districts based primarily on race, which the Court in Shaw v. Reno (1993) held is subject to strict scrutiny under the equal protection clause.
Baker v. Carr (1962) established that courts can hear challenges to legislative districting, leading to the 'one person, one vote' principle.
Example
A state legislature draws a district that snakes across several counties to collect voters of one party into a single seat.
On the exam
Baker v. Carr and Shaw v. Reno are required cases; gerrymandering appears in Unit 2 questions on Congress and representation.