Meaning
To manipulate the boundaries of an electoral constituency so as to give one party or group an unfair advantage; also a noun for such a district or the practice itself. Strongly pejorative in political use and applied worldwide, it is usually said with the now-standard soft-g pronunciation rather than the original hard g of Gerry's name. Pejorative and politically charged; nearly always implies manipulation, and spawns new -mander blends for fresh redistricting controversies. Regional use: General English (American coinage, Massachusetts, 1812).
Origin
In 1812 the Massachusetts legislature, dominated by Governor Elbridge Gerry's Democratic-Republican party, redrew state senate districts to favor itself, and Gerry signed the bill despite personal distaste for it. The contorted South Essex County district looked like a salamander, and on March 26, 1812, the Boston Gazette ran 'Gerry-mander', pairing the name with a dragon-like cartoon most likely drawn by engraver Elkanah Tisdale, whose printing woodblocks survive at the Library of Congress. Federalist editors such as Nathan Hale and the Russell brothers are traditionally credited with the coinage, though no definitive attribution exists; a contemporary diary records the caricature circulating by April 2, 1812. The word was reprinted in newspapers nationwide that year, was soon used as a verb, and had entered dictionaries by 1848.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- Gerry-mander (original 1812 spelling)
- gerrymandered
- gerrymanderer
- gerrymandering
Usage Examples
- Observers argued the legislature had gerrymandered the district to dilute the opposition's vote.
- The gerrymander split the city so cleanly that three seats were safe for the incumbent party.
- After the census, both parties accused each other of trying to gerrymander the new boundaries.