The U.S. could be free of gerrymandering. Here’s how other countries do redistricting.
What does redistricting look like elsewhere in the world?
1. Larger districts send more than one representative to the legislature
Most democracies outside the English-speaking world elect more than one representative per district. When the number of seats per district can be adjusted, the principle of “one person, one vote” can often be achieved without redrawing boundaries lines at all. You simply add a seat to a district that has grown, and subtract that seat from the ones that shrink. That vastly reduces the possibility of reshaping outcomes by manipulating boundaries.
.. 2. Politically neutral bodies draw districts
In most other long-term democracies, a politically neutral body draws new districts — perhaps a quasi-judicial body or nonpartisan administrative board or commission. The redistricting bodies of some countries, such as New Zealand, include representatives of the major parties.
But the more common pattern is to explicitly exclude anyone with partisan connections, as is true in Canada and India. In Britain, the ‘redistribution of parliamentary constituencies is carried out by a nonpartisan Boundary Commission.
.. 3. District boundaries are harder to manipulate
Americans might be surprised to learn that the single-member districts in Mexico are drawn in concordance with an algorithmdeveloped by a so-called technical committee implementing “good government” criteria of districting. The committee’s map is then submitted for two rounds of review by the political parties. Modifications are accepted only if they improve the value of a pre-established scoring function.