Is Partisan Gerrymandering As Bad As You Think?

Is Partisan Gerrymandering As Bad As You Think?

From Not Another Politics Podcast by University of Chicago Podcast Network

November 27, 2025 · 56 min · Episode 150

About this episode

The episode discusses the effectiveness of partisan gerrymandering with insights from political scientist Kosuke Imai.

There is no political topic that can get people’s blood boiling quite like partisan gerrymandering. But what do we know about how effective it is and what the data shows about its outcomes? This week, we're re-releasing our conversation with Princeton political scientist Kosuke Imai about his paper, "Widespread Partisan Gerrymandering Mostly Cancels Nationally, But Reduces Electoral Competition.” He uses a novel methodological approach to try and document the effect of partisan gerrymandering. What he finds is surprising and may lead people who participate in it to re-think whether it’s worth the effort. Link to paper: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2217322120

People in this episode

Guest: Kosuke Imai

Topics covered

  • partisan gerrymandering
  • political science
  • electoral competition
  • data analysis
  • methodology

Keywords

  • gerrymandering
  • politics
  • elections
  • data
  • competition
  • methodology
  • Princeton

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Princeton, University of Chicago Podcast Network, PNAS

Books & works: Widespread Partisan Gerrymandering Mostly Cancels Nationally, But Reduces Electoral Competition

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