GERRYMANDERING
DEFINITION
Gerrymandering means changing district lines in order to benefit one political party.
LINK
Gerrymandering has been published in the
online Winter 2000 issue of the
ACADEMIC GAMING REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Players take turns changing the district lines in order to win the election.
EQUIPMENT
Players will need:
Six sided dice (1D6)
Map: 10 X 10 Grid. Each square represents a city block.
Chits: tiny cardboard counters. (Blocks & District Markers)
MAP SETUP
Randomly place 100 Block chits on the map, one chit per space.
BLOCKS
Each block is described by a chit.
Before playing the first game players will have to make 100 chits.
Each block chit has 4 variable characteristics that describe it.
These include: Income, Party, Race, and Issue.
INCOME TABLE
1D6 Income Abbreviation
1-2 High H
3-4 Medium M
5-6 Low L
PARTY TABLE
1D6 Party Abbreviation
1-3 Democratic D
4-6 Republican R
RACE TABLE
1D6 Race Abbreviation
1 Black Black
2 WASP WASP
3 European Euro
4 South American SAmer
5 Caribbean Carib
6 Oriental Orient
ISSUES TABLE
1D6 Issue Abbreviation
1 Taxes Tax
2 Roads Road
3 Healthcare Heal
4 Crime Crime
5 Education Edu
6 Environment Envir
MAKING BLOCK CHITS
Each Block has exactly one randomly determined income, party, race, and issue.
Use the abbreviations when writing on the chits:
On the upper left hand corner of the chit write the income.
On the upper right hand corner of the chit write the party.
In the middle of the chit write the race.
On the bottom, write the issue.
SETUP CANDIDATE
Each player has a candidate that is running for office
Each candidate has the following 8 profile characteristics:
1. Income: Determine on the Income Table
2. Party: Determine on the Party Table
3. Race: Determine on the Race Table
4. First Allied Race: Determine on the Race Table (must be different from #3 on this list)
5. Second Allied Race: Determine on the Race Table (must be different from #3 & #4)
6. Primary Issue: Determine on the Issue Table
7. Second Issue: Determine on the Issue Table (must be different from #6)
8. Third Issue: Determine on the Issue Table (must be different from #6 & #7)
PLAYING THE GAME
After setup the game has 4 phases:
1. District lines are drawn
2. District lines are redrawn
3. Census
4. Election
DISTRICT LINES ARE DRAWN
Players take turns. Roll high on 1D6 to determine who goes first.
In the first part the District lines are drawn.
There are 50 District Markers (Blank Chits). They are all the same.
The first player places 1D6 markers on the map, one per block.
The very first marker may be placed on any one of the 9 center squares.
All other markers must be placed on a block adjacent to another marker.
Adjacent means side by side, not diagonal.
The next player places 1D6 markers, then the next, and so on.
This continues until all 50 markers are placed.
Everything under a marker is part of the voting district.
DISTRICT LINES ARE REDRAWN
In the second part the District lines are redrawn.
Turns continue from where they left off.
The game will continue for another XD6 turns. X = number of players.
On a players turn he may move 1D6 markers.
A marker cannot be moved if it is adjacent to 3 or more markers.
A marker cannot be moved if this action separates the district into 2 or more
isolated parts.
A removed marker can then be placed back on the map adjacent to any other marker.
After this then a census is taken of the district
THE CENSUS
Take the 50 blocks in the district and count the number of each variable. For example:
The district may have contained: 16 High income blocks, 19 middle income, and
15 low income; 27 Democrats and 23 Republicans; 9 Blacks, 8 WASPs, 6 Europeans,
10 South Americans, 8 Caribbean's, and 9 Orientals; 10 Taxes, 6 Education,
10 Roads, 9 Health care, 7 Crime, and 8 Environmentalists.
THE ELECTION
Calculate votes for the candidates:
1. For each matching Income block get 2 votes.
For example: A High income candidate would get 32 votes for 16 High income
blocks in the district but no votes for middle and low income blocks.
2. For each matching Party block get 1 vote.
3. For each matching Race block get 3 votes.
4. For each matching First Allied Race block get 1 vote.
5. For each matching Second Allied Race block get 1 vote.
6. For each matching Primary Issue block get 3 votes.
7. For each matching Second Issue block get 2 votes.
8. For each matching Third Issue block get 1 vote.
VICTORY
The player with the most votes at the end of the game is the winner.
And your next elected official.
VARIATIONS
For a smaller game play on an 8 X 8 map and use 32 District markers.
Pick your candidates characteristics instead of generating them randomly.