General Overviews of Gerrymandering and the ensemble method
Ensembles and Outliers: A general overview of the Ensemble method asu used to understand gerrymandering in a number of states.
The Signature of Gerrymandering : A discussion of one of primary visualizations for understanding the gerrymandering in Common Cause v. Rucho. It uses boxplots to identify districts which were cracked and districts which were packed.
Hearing the Will of the People : We discuss the fashion in which the maps are drawn can dramatically the interpretation of an election. In the North Carolina elections considered in Common Cause v. Rucho, depending on the map the same votes can produce a 9-4 seat split for either the Democratic Party or for the Republican Party. The point is further reiterated in The Fix is in: The votes don’t matter .
FAQs and Miss-conceptions
It’s Not about Proportional Representation: People often imply that all critiques of Gerrymandering are calling for proportional representation. One of the strengths and motivations for the ensemble method is that it does not invoke proportional representation.
Explaining various Quantitative Analyses
Marginal Box-Plots: Summarizing what is Typical : Describes the Ordered Marginal Box Plots which were central to our analysis in Common Cause v. Ruch and more recently in Common Cause v. Lewis.
Firewalls : Some redistricting have the property the level of Gerrymandering increases when one party is in danger of losing the majority of supermajority. A particularly compelling version of this is given in the following FireWall Animations.
