{"id":36085,"date":"2022-09-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/what-we-know-about-redistricting-and-redistricting-reform\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T14:00:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:00:48","slug":"what-we-know-about-redistricting-and-redistricting-reform","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/www.newamerica.org\/insights\/what-we-know-about-redistricting-and-redistricting-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Know About Redistricting and Redistricting Reform"},"author":20,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","issue_tax":[540],"topic_tax":[105,119,140,200,226],"program_tax":[156],"project_tax":[4116],"person_tax":[2840],"podcast_show_tax":[],"insight_type":[3795,3796],"fellowship_tax":[],"award":[],"class_list":["post-36085","insight","type-insight","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","insight_type-in-depth","insight_type-report"],"acf":{"details":{"hero_type":"large-image","abstract":"A systematic analysis of the claim that redistricting commissions can improve the fairness of redistricting.","subheading":"","read_time":"","watch_time":"","podcast_player":"","apple_podcast_link":"","spotify_podcast_link":"","podcast_link":null,"listen_time":"","youtube_id":"","":null,"featured_image":36106,"add_image_caption":false,"caption":"","pdf_version":null,"helper_taxonomies":{"issue_tax":[540],"topic_tax":[105,119,140,200,226],"program_tax":[156],"project_tax":[4116],"person_tax":[2840],"fellowship_tax":false,"event_type":false,"location":false,"insight_type":[3795,3796],"award":false,"podcast_show_tax":false,"person_type":false,"demographic_key":false,"survey_topic":false,"organization":false},"media_inquiry":false,"media_inquiry_title":"","media_inquiry_email":""},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_heading","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_heading":{"text":"Abstract","level":"h3","":null,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"add_background_color":false,"content":"<p data-block-key=\"po2f0\">This report offers a systematic analysis of redistricting and redistricting commissions, and finds that truly independent redistricting commissions are superior to partisan legislatures across any number of measures. However, there are significant limits to \u201cfair\u201d maps, even with independent commissions. While gerrymandering is undoubtedly a major concern, many of the problems attributed to gerrymandering are actually problems with districting, and more specifically with the use of the single-member district. Therefore, while independent redistricting commissions do perform better than partisan state legislatures, the improvements are typically more marginal than the conventional wisdom would suggest. They fall short of ideal conditions\u2014especially when it comes to the share of districts that are competitive in a general election.<\/p>","":null,"drop_cap":false,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_heading","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_heading":{"text":"Acknowledgments","level":"h3","":null,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"add_background_color":false,"content":"<p data-block-key=\"0r6hw\">I would like to thank Tyler Fisher, Lizbeth Lucero, Maresa Strano, and Mark Schmitt for their incredibly helpful comments and editing support. This would not have been possible without them.<\/p><p data-block-key=\"5ohc1\">Thanks also to Jodi Narde, Joe Wilkes, and Naomi Morduch Toubman for their graphics and communications support. Funding for this work was provided by the Unite America Institute. All positions are those solely of the authors.<\/p>","":null,"drop_cap":false,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_boxed_links","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_boxed_links":{"heading":"Downloads","links":[{"title":"","description":"","link":{"title":"What We Know About Redistricting and Redistricting Reform","url":"https:\/\/d1y8sb8igg2f8e.cloudfront.net\/documents\/What_We_Know_About_Redistricting_and_Redistricting_Reform___Vlt6sZ8.pdf","target":"_blank"}}],"":null,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_authors","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_authors":{"":null,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_taxonomies","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_taxonomies":{"":null,"anchor_id":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_related":{"":null,"anchor_id":""}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO 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