If a district is drawn to give an advantage to a candidate by its shape, this is called?

If a district is drawn to give an advantage to a candidate by its shape, this is called?

• A. Malapportioned
• B. Gerrymandered
• C. Regressed
• D. Disbarred

Answer: (B)

Gerrymandering is drawing district boundaries to give an electoral advantage to a particular candidate or party. The shaping of the district is intentional, meant to influence who wins, often by concentrating opponents in a few districts or spreading them thin across many. The term comes from a historic example where a salamander-shaped district was drawn to favor the ruling party. So the scenario described—using the shape of a district to help a candidate—fits this practice. Other terms don’t capture this idea: malapportioned refers to unequal population across districts, not to the way lines are drawn to gain an edge; regressed and disbarred are unrelated.

Gerrymandering is drawing district boundaries to give an electoral advantage to a particular candidate or party. The shaping of the district is intentional, meant to influence who wins, often by concentrating opponents in a few districts or spreading them thin across many. The term comes from a historic example where a salamander-shaped district was drawn to favor the ruling party. So the scenario described—using the shape of a district to help a candidate—fits this practice. Other terms don’t capture this idea: malapportioned refers to unequal population across districts, not to the way lines are drawn to gain an edge; regressed and disbarred are unrelated.