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posted by martyb on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the safe-borders dept.

From Quanta Magazine:

Simple math can help scheming politicians manipulate district maps and cruise to victory. But it can also help identify and fix the problem.
 
Imagine fighting a war on 10 battlefields. You and your opponent each have 200 soldiers, and your aim is to win as many battles as possible. How would you deploy your troops? If you spread them out evenly, sending 20 to each battlefield, your opponent could concentrate their own troops and easily win a majority of the fights. You could try to overwhelm several locations yourself, but there's no guarantee you'll win, and you'll leave the remaining battlefields poorly defended. Devising a winning strategy isn't easy, but as long as neither side knows the other's plan in advance, it's a fair fight.
 
Now imagine your opponent has the power to deploy your troops as well as their own. Even if you get more troops, you can't win.
 
In the war of politics, this power to deploy forces comes from gerrymandering, the age-old practice of manipulating voting districts for partisan gain. By determining who votes where, politicians can tilt the odds in their favor and defeat their opponents before the battle even begins.

 
Anyone for a game of RISK?


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:12PM (10 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:12PM (#586013)

    In before someone starts blaming one American party for doing it more than the other.

    They BOTH do it. They both usually end up suing each other in court because of some loss. In my state it has flipped a couple of times because of that. Remember districts usually only count mostly at the congress seat level. Most everything else is based on the county/city lines or popular vote.

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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:58PM (6 children)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday October 22 2017, @07:58PM (#586033) Homepage

    Well, California is a problem. Let's hope Bannon can rally right, reducing retardism.

    I don't like San Francisco and Boston dictating terms and behavioral guidelines to the rest of the proud White nation. The leftists will be stopped.

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 22 2017, @08:15PM (5 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 22 2017, @08:15PM (#586039)

      Lol, whoever modded you insightful is a sociopath and/or moron.

      • (Score: 2, Troll) by Fluffeh on Sunday October 22 2017, @08:54PM (2 children)

        by Fluffeh (954) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 22 2017, @08:54PM (#586051) Journal

        Lol, whoever modded you insightful is a sociopath and/or moron.

        Some people just want to watch the world burn... Or, you know, they have a sense of humor.

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday October 22 2017, @11:02PM

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday October 22 2017, @11:02PM (#586088) Journal

          This isn't funny anymore though. When your humor starts pinging peoples' Poe sensors, it's time to re-evaluate. He should stick to toilet humor and similar, as it's all he's really good at. I don't think he's joking anymore, either.

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 23 2017, @08:49AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 23 2017, @08:49AM (#586237)

          Some people just want to watch the world burn... Or, you know, they have a sense of humor.

          And some people like to rub their dicks with cheese graters. It doesn't mean most people will understand that either.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 22 2017, @10:11PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 22 2017, @10:11PM (#586074)

        While a bit inflammatory California does have a major gerrymandering problem plus an extra issue. In many cases they have worked it out so there is no republican representation.

        • (Score: 5, Informative) by WalksOnDirt on Sunday October 22 2017, @10:35PM

          by WalksOnDirt (5854) on Sunday October 22 2017, @10:35PM (#586081) Journal

          California has no gerrymandering, though they used to. The district boundaries are now set by a non-partisan commission, not politicians.

  • (Score: 1) by pdfernhout on Monday October 23 2017, @01:06AM

    by pdfernhout (5984) on Monday October 23 2017, @01:06AM (#586109) Homepage
    --
    The biggest challenge of the 21st century: the irony of technologies of abundance used by scarcity-minded people.
  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 23 2017, @12:10PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 23 2017, @12:10PM (#586293) Journal

    Damn right that post is insightful - who would mod it back down to obscurity?

    Haven't read TFA yet, only TFS. Before I even look - does this research have an agenda? Is it partisan? It should be noted that even a bipartisan agenda is still an agenda. The two parties have conspired to prevent any third party having a voting district, much less federal funding. I'm off to read TFA . . .

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 23 2017, @02:37PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 23 2017, @02:37PM (#586340)

    Yeah, I guess we can figure out who done it first. The one who has probably thought they would "win", and were horrified when the other party did the same thing to them once they got into power.