Gerrymandering: How drawing jagged lines can impact an election - Christina Greer
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0:16 - 0:19Most people have heard the word "gerrymandering" once or twice,
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0:19 - 0:22probably during a presidential election.
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0:22 - 0:24What exactly is gerrymandering?
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0:24 - 0:30Essentially, it's the process of giving one political party an advantage over another political party
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0:30 - 0:32by redrawing district lines.
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0:32 - 0:35It's like Democrats trying to gain an advantage over Republicans,
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0:35 - 0:39or Republicans trying to gain an advantage over Democrats.
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0:39 - 0:43You see, each party wants to gain as many districts as possible
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0:43 - 0:45so they can do things like control the state budget,
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0:45 - 0:49or set themselves up to win even more districts in the future.
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0:49 - 0:53So to understand how this process began, and how it continues today,
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0:53 - 0:57we must go back to 1812 in Massachusetts.
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0:57 - 1:03Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts, supported and signed a bill to allow redistricting.
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1:03 - 1:06That is, redrawing the boundaries that separate districts.
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1:06 - 1:10The catch? The new lines would favor Gerry's own political party,
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1:10 - 1:14the Democratic-Republican party, which no longer exists.
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1:14 - 1:18You see, Gerry wanted his party to win as many state Senate seats as possible.
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1:18 - 1:22The more members of your party who vote, the more likely you are to win an election.
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1:22 - 1:27The new lines were drawn to include loads of areas that would help Governor Gerry in the future.
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1:27 - 1:32They were so strange looking that someone said the new districts looked like a salamander.
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1:32 - 1:35The Boston Gazette added Gerry's name to the word salamander,
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1:35 - 1:37and voilà! Gerrymandering,
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1:37 - 1:43the process of dividing up and redrawing districts to give your political party an advantage.
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1:43 - 1:47So how exactly does someone go about protecting their own political party,
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1:47 - 1:49and actually gerrymandering a district?
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1:49 - 1:51There are two successful practices.
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1:51 - 1:52Packing a district,
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1:52 - 1:54and cracking a district.
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1:54 - 1:59Packing is the process of drawing district lines and packing in your opponents like cattle,
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1:59 - 2:01into as few districts as possible.
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2:01 - 2:04If more districts equals more votes, the fewer the districts there are,
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2:04 - 2:07the fewer votes the opposition party will get.
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2:07 - 2:12Packing, then, decreases the opponent's voter strength and influence.
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2:12 - 2:14Cracking is the opposite:
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2:14 - 2:17taking one district and cracking it into several pieces.
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2:17 - 2:21This is usually done in districts where your opponent has many supporters.
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2:21 - 2:24Cracking spreads these supporters out among many districts,
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2:24 - 2:26denying your opponent a lot of votes.
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2:26 - 2:30When you have a large number of people who would generally vote for one type of party,
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2:30 - 2:32those folks are known as a voting bloc.
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2:32 - 2:35Cracking is a way to break that all up.
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2:35 - 2:39So when would a party choose to pack their opponent's districts rather than crack them?
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2:39 - 2:42Well, that really depends on what the party needs.
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2:42 - 2:46To dilute your opponent's voters, you could pack them into one district
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2:46 - 2:49and leave the surrounding districts filled with voters of your own party.
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2:49 - 2:53Or, if you and your party are in power when it's time to redraw district lines,
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2:53 - 2:57you could redraw districts and crack up a powerful district
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2:57 - 3:00and spread your opponent's voters out across several neighboring districts.
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3:00 - 3:05So, Governor Gerry in 1812 wanted to gain an advantage for his party,
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3:05 - 3:10and redrew district lines in his state in such a crazy way we have a whole new word
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3:10 - 3:14and way of thinking about how political parties can gain advantages over their opponents.
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3:14 - 3:18Politicians think of creative ways to draw districts every few years.
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3:18 - 3:21So the next time an election comes around,
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3:21 - 3:23and politicians ask people to vote,
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3:23 - 3:27be sure to look up the shape of your district and the districts that surround it.
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3:27 - 3:30How wide does your district stretch across your state?
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3:30 - 3:34Are all of the districts in your state relatively the same shape?
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3:34 - 3:37How many other districts does your district touch?
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3:37 - 3:39But always be sure to ask yourself,
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3:39 - 3:42does my district look like a salamander?
- Title:
- Gerrymandering: How drawing jagged lines can impact an election - Christina Greer
- Speaker:
- Christina Greer
- Description:
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View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/gerrymandering-how-drawing-jagged-lines-can-impact-an-election-christina-greer
District lines, and the groups of voters within them, may seem arbitrary, but a lot of thought (and political bickering) is put into these carefully drawn lines. From "packing" a district to "cracking" a district--learn how the shape of districts impacts political parties during election season.
Lesson by Christina Greer, animation by Smart Bubble Society.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 03:53
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