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arXiv · 1802.08351

A Cut-And-Choose Mechanism to Prevent Gerrymandering

Jamie Tucker-Foltz
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Abstract

This paper presents a novel mechanism to endogenously determine the fair division of a state into electoral districts in a two-party setting. No geometric constraints are imposed on voter distributions or district shapes; instead, it is assumed that any partition of the population into districts of equal population is feasible. One party divides the map, then the other party chooses a minimum threshold level of support needed to win a district. Districts in which neither party meets this threshold are awarded randomly. Despite the inherent asymmetry, the equilibria of this mechanism always yield fair outcomes, up to integer rounding.

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Jamie Tucker-Foltz. 2018-02-22. A Cut-And-Choose Mechanism to Prevent Gerrymandering. https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.08351

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