Ben Schneer

Are Less Proportional Congressional Maps Also Less Fair? You may have seen posts online arguing that a state's congressional map is gerrymandered because the number of seats a party wins doesn't match its statewide vote share. The argument goes like this: "...

In Hawaii, ~40% of voters in the 2024 Pres. election went for Republicans. But Hawaii has no Republican congressional seats. Does this mean its map is a terrible gerrymander? I've noticed a lot of discussions online making points similar to this one. I wrote a post, linked below, on this question.

Explainer: Understanding the mid-decade redistricting push in Texas Powerful new techniques and a partisan environment are influencing congressional redistricting by Texas Republicans, Benjamin Schneer explains. Schneer is a faculty member at Harvard Kennedy School.

Recently did a Q&A/Explainer on the current gerrymandering "wars". Check it out if you are catching up on the fight over gerrymandering in Texas, California and beyond...

www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-rese...

Spoke with the Austin American-Statesman and shared some data about the impact of redistricting in Travis County. More than half the people in the county will be reshuffled into new congressional districts and only one of these will remain rooted in Austin.

See archive.ph/7DcuX for full article.

How to Fix America’s Gerrymandering Problem As Trump pushes states to redraw districts in favor of Republicans, this solution could help stop gerrymandering.

How to fix America's gerrymandering problem? @benschneer.bsky.social and I wrote in Time today about a solution we developed (with @cantstopkevin.bsky.social). time.com/7309565/amer...

In my view, the path forward is coming up with procedures that we think ensure fairer outcomes, whether they be what we have proposed here or other approaches where a fairer process is the key reform.

This is essentially Goodhart's Law: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." With modern computing, it is possible to draw maps that meet one single target while still allowing an extreme gerrymander along other dimensions.

One related point to highlight that is not in the Time article, but that I think is an increasingly important one: Any "solution" to gerrymandering that is pinned on reducing a single measure can ultimately be gamed.

We're honored the paper recently won the Miller Prize from the Society for Political Methodology for best paper in Political Analysis in 2025, polmeth.org/miller-prize.

I along with my co-authors @MaxwellBPalmer and @cantstopkevin wrote an academic article (bit.ly/4oABcyb) describing the proposed approach: set the parties against each other in a structured map-drawing process, where each has input. We call it Define-Combine.

How to Fix America’s Gerrymandering Problem As Trump pushes states to redraw districts in favor of Republicans, this solution could help stop gerrymandering.

I've been thinking through the implications of extreme gerrymandering for several years now.

Today I wrote an article in Time that lays out the problem and describes one solution.

We think that we need a "partisan" solution to partisan gerrymandering.

time.com/7309565/amer...

Republicans are seeking to create a durable gerrymander in Texas Short-term tactical gains in Texas could ultimately yield a race to the bottom.

Ben Schneer investigates what Texas’s mid-decade redistricting will mean for congressional elections and voter representation.

Learn more here ⤵️
www.expressnews.com/opinion/comm...

How Texas's New Congressional Maps Lock In Political Power The mid-decade redistricting in Texas seems like it will be the first in a series of extreme gerrymanders across the country, with states like Missouri, California, and maybe even New York next. This ...

Finally, if you are interested in reading an even more in-depth (and more academic) analysis I put one together here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-te...

The new map is not only biased for Republicans, but also unresponsive to future swings in the vote. In other work, we have termed this type of map a “durable gerrymander,” and it cuts against an important democratic principle: that the party in power risks losing it if voter preferences change.

Republicans are seeking to create a durable gerrymander in Texas Short-term tactical gains in Texas could ultimately yield a race to the bottom.

You may have noticed things are happening fast in the world of redistricting…

I along with @maxwellpalmer.com and @simko.bsky.social wrote an article last week (though published today) that analyzes the changes to the congressional district map in Texas, and particularly San Antonio.

YouTube video by Top of Mind with Julie Rose Feeling Unheard by Congress? Here's What You Need to Know.

Really enjoyed speaking with Julie Rose on the Top of Mind podcast about the responsiveness of Congress to constituents and congressional petitioning!

#QJE Aug 2025, #14, “‘Descended from Immigrants and Revolutionists:’ How Family History Shapes Immigration Policymaking,” by Feigenbaum (@jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social), Palmer (@maxwellpalmer.com), and Schneer: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...