A partisan solution to partisan Gerrymandering: the define–combine procedure
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Date
2023-12-13
Authors
Palmer, Maxwell
Schneer, Benjamin
DeLuca, Kevin
Version
Published version
OA Version
Citation
M. Palmer, B. Schneer, K. DeLuca. "A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define–Combine Procedure" Political Analysis, pp.1-16. https://doi.org/10.1017/pan.2023.39
Abstract
Redistricting reformers have proposed many solutions to the problem of partisan gerrymandering, but they all require either bipartisan consensus or the agreement of both parties on the legitimacy of a neutral third party to resolve disputes. In this paper, we propose a new method for drawing district maps, the Define–Combine Procedure, that substantially reduces partisan gerrymandering without requiring a neutral third party or bipartisan agreement. One party defines a map of
$2N$
equal-population contiguous districts. Then the second party combines pairs of contiguous districts to create the final map of N districts. Using real-world geographic and electoral data, we employ simulations and map-drawing algorithms to show that this procedure dramatically reduces the advantage conferred to the party controlling the redistricting process and leads to less-biased maps without requiring cooperation or non-partisan actors.
Description
License
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for Political Methodology.