“You could redistrict so that you could maximize competitiveness. That would be my suggestion: maximize competitiveness.”
"The Gerry-Mander," Boston Gazette, 26 March 1812, from Wikimedia Commons.
On this week’s Thomas Jefferson Hour, we discuss gerrymandering, its origin, how it works in American politics today, and the potential effects it has on our democracy.
Further Reading
- Supreme Court of the United States: Oral Argument Transcript of Gill v. Whitford
- Founders Online: From Thomas Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry, 13 May 1797
- Founders Online: From Thomas Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry, 26 January 1799
- The Age of Federalism by Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick
So You Want to Live in a Democracy
The Jefferson Watch
"How do we discern the will of the people? Today we have scientific polls, social media, town hall meetings, and a much better and easier system of communication between politicians and their constituents, so that a worthy representative is in a better position to discern 'what the people want' than ever before."
Read this week's Jefferson Watch essay, "So You Want to Live in a Democracy."
What Would Jefferson Do?
“There needs to be a fairness principle.”
Tune in to your local public radio or join the 1776 Club to hear this episode of What Would Thomas Jefferson Do?
We answer listener questions in response to episode #1277 Gerrymandering, and then turn to a discussion about an important discovery of an 1805 Lewis & Clark related map. It was found after being stored for 200 years in a French archive. The map and its background story appear in this month’s issue of We Proceeded On, published by the Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation.
"You could redistrict so that you could maximize competitiveness. That would be my suggestion: maximize competitiveness."
— Clay S. Jenkinson
On this week’s Thomas Jefferson Hour, we discuss gerrymandering, its origin, how it works in American politics today, and the potential effects it has on our democracy.
How do we discern the will of the people?
"There needs to be a fairness principle."
— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson