What is a common outcome of gerrymandering in congressional districts?

• A. More Democrats being elected to the House
• B. More Republicans being elected to the House
• C. Guarantees equal representation for minority parties
• D. Favors one political party over another

Answer: (D)

A common outcome of gerrymandering in congressional districts is that it favors one political party over another. Gerrymandering involves the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to create an advantage for a particular political party. By strategically drawing district lines, lawmakers can concentrate or dilute the voting power of particular demographic groups, which often leads to a significant imbalance in representation.

For example, if a party controls the state legislature, they might gerrymander district boundaries in such a way that their party's voters are clustered together in fewer districts, allowing them to win those districts by large margins while spreading out the opposition party's voters across many districts, resulting in the latter winning fewer seats overall despite possibly having a majority of votes statewide. This manipulation contributes to an environment where elections are less competitive, and the voting power is skewed, thereby entrenching the political power of the favored party.