CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING
Every 10 years there is a US census. Following the census there is redistricting: Congressional districts are redrawn to reflect population changes. Right now, one representative represents 700,000 people. Redistricting can result in abuse if it is done on an overly partisan basis, i.e. if it overly favors one political party or another or one racial or ethnic group over another. This is called gerrymandering after one of its early beneficiaries, Elbridge Gerry.
Two of the techniques used are packing and cracking. In packing, constituents of one racial or ethnic or partisan group are concentrated in a Congressional district so the rest will be elected by the other group. In cracking, a compact concentration of members of one group is broken up into fragments, diluting its political power.
The issue has come to the fore recently because Texas has threatened to create five new congressional districts with Republican majorities. California has responded by doing the same thing favoring Democrats. In the highly partisan situation of today, with a closely balanced House of Representatives, the effect of the Texas and California plans could be enormous. Justice would require that redistricting be done by a nonpartisan commission as in Iowa and Maine.Â
Source: Bipartisan Policy Center, 8/8/25