gerrymander
3
9.6
- noun
- /ˈdʒɛrɪˌmændər/
- Few social studies teachers would define the terms lobby or gerrymander and not discuss the origin of the term and how it is used in politics.
- partisan gerrymander
- racial gerrymander
- political gerrymander
Examples
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But I want to congratulate the gerrymanderers on what a good job they did from a statistical point of view.
Blog text (6) -
The controversial plan to reshape the voting boundaries is seen as an obvious gerrymander aimed at securing political advantage.
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Keep the Democrat gerrymander for Congressional District 6.
Blog text (12) -
The next gerrymander might not be so good for the Dems.
Blog text (20) -
David Brin has an excellent post on the results of ending the gerrymander in California.
Blog text (6) -
In the spirit of Texas and Georgia Republicans, let's see what an extreme Democratic partisan gerrymander could look like.
Blog text (15) -
As Slate's Dave Weigel noted, "ridiculous gerrymanders saved the House Republican majority."
Blog text (12) -
I didn't follow their redistricting very closely, but it doesn't seem like the gerrymander there was as brutal as Wisconsin, Ohio, or Pennsylvania.
Blog text (21) -
The recent electoral maps drawn in the state are a clear instance of gerrymander that favors one party over others.
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Critics argue that the district lines were designed as a gerrymander to enhance the voting power of a specific political group.
Synonyms
15
8.5
The act of changing voting district lines to help one party unfairly
Surface Forms
Morphology
gerrymander = Gerry + salamander (opaque) = gerry + mander
The noun sense is derived from the same coined blend; the lexical formation is not a productive morphological construction yielding the political meaning.
Etymology
Gerrymander comes from a US governor named Gerry and a famous cartoon that showed a voting district looking like a salamander. A gerrymander is a voting map made on purpose 'to help one party' by changing the district lines unfairly.