How to End the Gerrymandering Doom Loop Forever
About this episode
The episode asks whether gerrymandering can ever be stopped, and Drutman argues it cannot be fixed within the current system: as long as elections use winner-take-all single-member districts, both parties will keep redrawing maps to maximize seats, and each round of court rulings, census changes, and retaliation deepens the doom loop. He contends the real culprit is the two-party system itself, so the durable fix is proportional representation through multi-member districts — the model in the Fair Representation Act — which would make nearly every vote count and end district-rigging entirely. The conversation covers the Supreme Court's role, from the Rucho decision blessing partisan gerrymandering to a pending Louisiana case that could weaken the Voting Rights Act, a proposed citizenship question on the census that could shift House seats toward Republicans, and the political paradox that Democrats may need to win under the rigged system before they can abolish it.