In American politics today, there are many practices that greatly harm the American public. One of these dangerous practices, known as gerrymandering, occurs in almost every state. While some claim the practice helps America, gerrymandering actually harms American democracy and security. Gerrymandering greatly affects society and must become illegal to ensure fair representation, democratic processes in America continue and America continues to prosper. When gerrymandering occurs, a political party draws the boundaries of a voting district in a way that helps its party win elections. on the other parties. For example, if a Republican controls a state and it looks like their party will lose a seat in the future, Republicans will draw the district in a way to exclude as many Democratic voters as possible. Perhaps they will achieve this by removing a Democratic stronghold from one district and adding it to another district that will easily become Republican or have a Democratic representative no matter what. Before 1964, the majority party could distribute districts as it saw fit, and chaos ensued. Therefore, in 1964, the United States Supreme Court legislated that districts "shall contain an equal population and be as compact as possible" ("Gerrymandering"). Every ten years, the United States conducts a census to determine the population of each state. After that, each state receives its share of the 435 seats, and then it distributes the population into corresponding number of districts. This entire process, known as reapportionment, takes weeks to determine, and in many cases the courts must determine the shape and size of each district. Even though districts must contain equal population, Gerry... middle of paper ...... is taking swift and decisive action to end this practice while she still can. Works Cited Foglia Phil. “19th-century Mass Governor Elbridge Gerry knew all about gerrymandering of political districts – he invented it!” Daily News. New York Daily News. March 14, 2014. the web. May 6, 2014. “Gerrymandering.” Britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica. August 1, 2013. the web. May 3, 2014. Levinson, Sanford. “To end government shutdowns, end partisan gerrymandering. »American.Aljazera.com. Aljazeera America, October 13, 2013. Web. May 10, 2014. Wilson, James Q and John J. Dilulio Jr. and Meena Bose. American government: institutions and policies. 13th ed. Boston MA: Wadsworth, Cenage Learning, 2013. Print. Winburn, Jonathan. The realities of redistricting: following the rules and limiting gerrymandering in state legislative redistricting. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008. Print.