Gerrymandering by varying the districts’ shape. • There are three kinds of delin-eational gerrymandering: cracking (or fracturing), packing, and stacking. See CRACKING; PACKING; STACKING(2).
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gerrymandering (jer-ee-man-d[schwa]r-ing orger-ee-), n. 1. The practice of dividing a geographical area into electoral districts, often of highly irregular shape, to give one political party an unfair advantage by diluting the opposition’s voting strength. • When Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry ran for reelection in 1812, members of his political party, the Anti-Federalists, altered the state’s
Gerrymandering by means of varying the number of representatives per district.
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reapportionment, n. Realignment of a legislative district’s boundaries to reflect changes in population. • The U.S. Supreme Court has required federal reapportionment. See U.S. Const. art. I, § 2, cl. 3. — Also termed redistricting. Cf. GERRYMANDERING. [Cases: Elections 12(6); States 27. C.J.S. States §§ 62–78.] — reapportion, vb.
legislative districting. The process of dividing a state into territorial districts to be represented in the state or federal legislature. See APPORTIONMENT(3); REAPPORTIONMENT; GERRYMANDERING. Cf. MALAPPORTIONMENT. [Cases: States 27. C.J.S. States §§ 62–78.]
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stacking. 1. Insurance. The process of obtaining benefits from a second policy on the same claim when recovery from the first policy alone would be inadequate. [Cases: Insurance 2108, 2799. C.J.S. Insurance §§ 1676, 1680.] judicial stacking. The principle that a court can construe insurance policies to permit stacking, under certain circumstances, when the policies
malapportionment, n. The improper or unconstitutional apportionment of a legislative district. See APPORTIONMENT(3); GERRYMANDERING; LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTING . [Cases: Elections 12(6).] — malapportion, vb.
gerrymander(ing) n. 〈美〉不公正划分的选区；不公正划分辖区 该词是19世纪早期由马萨诸塞州〔Massachusetts〕州长埃尔布里奇·格里〔Elbridge Gerry〕的姓与「salamander」一词后缀合并而成的具有讽刺意味的混合词〔portmanteau word〕。当1812年格里所属政党为支持反联邦主义者而重新划分马萨诸塞州选区后，埃塞克斯县〔Essex County〕被划分的形如蝾螈〔salamander〕。自此，gerrymandering指通过划分选区，削弱对手党的投票能量〔voting strength〕而使某一政党获得不公平的优势。在此情况下，其亦称political gerrymandering。目前，此项涵义虽仍是该词的主要含义，但已有所扩展，即其也指为使某一团体获得特别优势而划分辖区(如校区〔school districts〕)，其亦称jurisdictional gerrymandering。 (→reapportionment)
packing, n. A gerrymandering technique in which a dominant political or racial group minimizes minority representation by concentrating the minority into as few districts as possible. Cf. CRACKING; STACKING(2). [Cases: Elections 12(6).]
dilution. 1. The act or an instance of diminishing a thing’s strength or lessening its value. 2. Corporations. The reduction in the monetary value or voting power of stock by increasing the total number of outstanding shares. 3. Constitutional law. The limitation of the effectiveness of a particular group’s vote by legislative reapportionment or political