Dear all --

There are actually three issues involved here.

1. PR systems reduce incentives for gerrymandering because PR gives majorities 
and minorities legislative seats.  Swedish conservatives at the beginning of 
the 20th century opted for PR precisely because they would retain some 
influence in politics.  This is quite different from majoritarian systems 
(which is why, incidentally, Swedish leftists wanted to retain the 
first-past-the-post system in effect in their country until the early 20th -- 
they didn't want PR to dilute their increasing strength).

2. As it turns out, most PR systems use existing administrative boundaries as 
constituency boundaries.  So, the issue of gerrymandering never becomes a 
highly charged issue because everyone has agreed on a focal point.

3. The problem with many PR-administrative boundary systems is 
malapportionment, as someone already pointed out.  Population shifts without 
periodic apportionment leads to rural areas being overrepresented.  There is a 
good article by David Samuels and Richard Synder in the BJPS about this (2002 
or 2003, I think.

FL

===== Original Message From "David Epstein" <de11@columbia.edu> =====
I'd be interested in hearing more about this, too. But remember that
Ireland isn't true PR; it's a single transferable vote (STV) system. So
that creates incentives to coordinate ballots across members of a group,
but where does the gerrymandering come in?

Happy Holidays,

David Epstein


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-election-law_gl@majordomo.lls.edu
[mailto:owner-election-law_gl@majordomo.lls.edu] On Behalf Of Dan
Johnson-Weinberger
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 12:59 PM
To: election-law@majordomo.lls.edu
Subject: Re: Proportional multi-member system

A simple switch to PR won't prevent gerrymandering.  Ask the folks in
Ireland.

Mark E. Rush

That's intriguing, because it's counter-intuitive. The fuel of
gerrymandering in the U.S. is the lack of representation for the
political
minority in a single-member district. That's pretty clear from the Vieth

oral argument (thanks Marty for the link), and I thought
commonly-accepted
among students of redistricting.

Multi-member districts with proportional voting make it far more
difficult
to effectively gerrymander, because the political minority still gets
elected. That, I thought, was also a commonly-accepted understanding.

Northern Ireland certainly sufferers from anti-Catholic gerrymandering
(or
at least has suffered in the past according to Catholic advocates), but
Northern Ireland uses single-member districts.

Does the Republic of Ireland, which uses three-member to five-member
districts, really suffer from gerrymandering as well?

Happy New Year,
Dan

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