21 votes

A partisan solution to partisan gerrymandering

Posted by first-must-burn
Tags: gerrymandering, redistricting, algorithms, politics, science.political, analysis, bipartisanship, author.kevin deluca, author.benjamin schneer, author.maxwell palmer, source.cam
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/political-analysis/article/partisan-solution-to-partisan-gerrymandering-the-definecombine-procedure/B0792DD0A49332944F2AF5FF6828E275

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Title
A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define-Combine Procedure | Political Analysis | Cambridge Core
Word count
6170 words

4 comments

  1. [4]
    first-must-burn
    (edited )
    Link
    Abstract: Bruce Schneier's commentary Gerrymandering is a practice that has a strong negative impact on politics in the US. Unfortunately, both major parties benefit from gerrymandering, so it...

    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.

    Bruce Schneier's commentary

    Gerrymandering is a practice that has a strong negative impact on politics in the US. Unfortunately, both major parties benefit from gerrymandering, so it seems unlikely we'd see a solution like the one in the paper adopted, but it's nice to know there is a technical solution that doesn't require cooperation or an unbiased party.

    Edit: added the clarification suggested by @Hollow for the benefit of people reading the top line only

    18 votes
    1. [2]
      DefinitelyNotAFae
      Link Parent
      I laughed when I realized this is essentially not that much different than letting one person cut the cake so the other person gets to choose which half they take.

      I laughed when I realized this is essentially not that much different than letting one person cut the cake so the other person gets to choose which half they take.

      17 votes
      1. first-must-burn
        Link Parent
        Yup, sometimes a simple idea is all you need. Especially in this case, I think it being a very simple idea should make it harder to game if it were implemented. But politicians and lawyers being...

        Yup, sometimes a simple idea is all you need.

        Especially in this case, I think it being a very simple idea should make it harder to game if it were implemented. But politicians and lawyers being what they are, I would still be cautious.

        I also think there are plenty of other simple ideas that it would be great to use when politicians get unruly.

        8 votes
    2. Hollow
      Link Parent
      Edited for clarity:

      Edited for clarity:

      This Gerrymandering is a practice that has a strong negative impact on politics in the US. Unfortunately, both major parties benefit from it, so it seems unlikely we'd see it the proposal adopted.

      3 votes