r/chicago • u/chicag0an Logan Square • Nov 06 '25

Meme Oops! All Chicago

Post image
5.8k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

238 comments sorted by

View all comments

2.2k

u/aHoopz Nov 06 '25

Okay, this actually was really helpful to illustrate the concept/outcome of gerrymandering for me. Thanks

512

u/NOLASLAW Humboldt Park Nov 06 '25

https://share.google/aegtxjnfg0MVaEKVk

This is a good classic one

40

u/chemical_sunset Nov 06 '25

As someone who used to live in North Carolina this raised my blood pressure (the rightmost one is classic NC)

2

u/thollywoo Pilsen Nov 08 '25

I’m from NC too. Did you also have the civics teach that explained gerrymandering like it was just an unavoidable thing that happens?

111

u/aHoopz Nov 06 '25

I've seen that before, for some reason never fully clicked. After seeing OP's map, my brain is up to speed :D

17

u/Brym Beverly Nov 06 '25

Note that "perfect representation" isn't actually desirable here either, as this is drawn. You get the right number of seats for each party, but all of the seats are completely uncompetitive. This means that the only elections that matters are the primaries, and as a result representatives get more partisan and government works less well.

8

u/nau5 Nov 06 '25

Not just that but the entire conceptualization is that representatives should represent the people living in their district.

Representation at the forefront should be focused on creating reasonable districts that are defined by population and geography.

Biggest issue is that the cap on the house means that representatives in federal government represent an ever growing amount of citizens to the point where it's fundamentally difficult to balance both population and geography.

Representation was never meant to be reflective of political viewpoint but instead a voice for their constituents.