Section 02 · 4 entries
Boundaries
Where the lines go and who draws them.
Before any formula runs, somebody has decided where the lines fall. These entries cover the two manoeuvres that show up in the numbers, the competing mathematical definitions of a compact shape, districts of unequal population, and the institutional question of who holds the pen.
Every entry in Boundaries
Each one is a single rule and what it demonstrably does, with the country and the period named.
- 2.1Packing and crackingConcentrating opposing voters into few seats or splitting them across many — the two moves, and how each shows in the numbers.
- 2.2CompactnessSeveral competing mathematical definitions, none of them decisive, which is why shape alone rarely settles an argument.
- 2.3MalapportionmentDistricts of unequal population, and the difference between unequal size and deliberate shaping.
- 2.4Who draws the lineLegislature, commission or court — the institutional choice, and what each tends to produce.
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