The History and Future of Partisan Gerrymandering in America

We the People

National Constitution Center

History, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Bradley Smith of Capital University Law School and Nicholas Stephanopoulos of Harvard Law School join to discuss the history and future of partisan gerrymandering, including the mid-decade redistricting battles of the Gilded Age and the ongoing mid-decade redistricting efforts in Texas and California. Resources Rucho v. Common Cause (2019) Reynolds v. Sims (1964) Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Aligning Election Law (2024) Nicholas Stephanopoulos & Eric McGhee, “Partisan Gerrymandering and the Efficiency Gap,” Chicago Unbound (2014) Bradley Smith, Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform (2001) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠live program⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or watch recordings on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Support our important work. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate

Transcript

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0:00.0	On August 25th, President Trump announced that the Department of Justice will sue the state of California
0:06.1	over the efforts of California Democrats, led by Governor Gavin Newsom, to draw a new
0:12.2	Democratic-leaning congressional map. At the same time, a new map in Texas is also being challenged
0:18.0	in court.
0:21.9	Hello, friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center,
0:27.1	and welcome to We the People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:30.7	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit, chartered by Congress to increase
0:35.5	awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the
0:38.7	American people. This week, by popular demand, we are reconvening professors Nicholas
0:45.0	Stephanopoulos and Bradley Smith to discuss gerrymandering. We discussed racial gerrymandering
0:51.6	a few weeks ago, and we're back to discuss the history and future of partisan gerrymandering, including those new redistricting efforts in Texas and California.
1:03.3	Bradley Smith is Josiah H. Blackmore, the second Shirley M. Knall Professor of Law at Capital University Law School.
1:09.9	He served on the Federal
1:10.9	Election Commission from 2000 through 2005, including as the Commission's chairman during the
1:17.3	presidential election year of 2004. Brad, it is so great to welcome you back to We the People by
1:24.0	popular demand. It is always a pleasure, Jeff. Good to see you. And Nick Stephanopoulos is the Kirkland and Ellis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School,
1:31.3	a scholar at the forefront of election law and democratic theory.
1:34.6	Nick is the author of Aligning Election Law and has been involved in several cases about partisan gerrymandering.
1:40.4	Nick, it's wonderful to welcome you back to We the People.
1:42.7	Thanks for having me.
1:44.6	Let's jump in with the ongoing redistricting efforts in Texas and California.
1:51.5	Nick, what's going on and how historically unusual is this?
	...

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