Using this for my next redistricting lecture

Also, the partisans (& ideologues) on here will hate this but we could improve American politics from its current status (crumbling) of every state was forced to draw lines to maximize competitiveness (# of swing districts per state). https://twitter.com/electoralreform/status/1025290216473616385

If you'd like to see how different mapping techniques change outcomes of seat shares plat around with @FiveThirtyEight's Atlas of Redistricting tool https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-maps/

Did gerrymandering CAUSE polarization? For some reason my discipline occasionally asks, and then tests, hyper-inflated questions and then when the thesis fails the bold test, the discipline then decides henceforth- "gerrymandering does not cause polarization!" and then spends

the next decade shaking their head smugly at anyone who asserts there is a connection, including intrepid grad students who argue, "OK- but that's the wrong question. It is, after all, a question that is set up to fail." The more appropriate question IMHO is what CONTRIBUTION

does gerrymandering make to rising polarization and ideological extremism in Congress? Is it a necessary, if not sufficient condition?
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/as-swing-districts-dwindle-can-a-divided-house-stand/

What impact does the dramatic decrease in the # of members serving in marginal (swing) districts have on the ideological make up of the House over time (itself a story of who runs in deep red & deep blue districts and/or the types of politicians that can "survive" in them), what

effects that changing ideological make up has on the institution, & whether a "bleed over" effect can be isolated in the House's "partner" institution, the Senate (which we know has polarized too, behind the House)- I argue, pushed by the House via The Electoral Connection

which is the thesis that office-holders are "single-minded seekers of reelection."

BTW: I've collected a great deal of data to this project & if you are a political scientist (must have good stat skills) interested in joining in on this project hit me up.