Student Handouts

• Primary Source Documents 
  • “The Gerry Mander,” Boston Centinel, 1812 
  • Baker v. Carr (1962) majority and dissenting opinions 
  • Shaw v. Reno (1993) majority and dissenting opinions 
• Graphic Organizer  

• Consent of the governed: the power of government comes from the people. 

This lesson looks at the concept of gerrymandering and how that process leads to debates over consent of the governed and representation. Students will review political cartoons and the key ideas of Baker v. Carr (1962) and Shaw v. Reno (1993), two cases that are required by the AP U.S. Government and Politics course.  

Anticipate: 

• Think, Turn, Talk: What does the term “consent of the governed” mean to you?  
• Have students reflect on the prompt and then share their responses with a partner.  
• Ask for volunteers to share their responses.  
• Create a class definition for this term or share the Bill of Rights Institute’s definition, and ask how or if they would change it:  
  • Consent of the governed: the power of government comes from the people.   
  • Optional: Use this video to help example the principle.  
• Ask, “Why is it important for our government to ensure that our representatives have our consent?” 
• Say, “In this lesson, we will be looking at the process of how districts are created and how that process connects to the ideas of representation and consent of the governed.” 

Engage: 

• Show students the image of “The Gerry Mander” primary source without any context. Ask, “What do you see? What do you think this is? When or why do you think it was made? What other information do we need to analyze this cartoon?”  
• Have students look at “The Gerry Mander” primary source with the background context.  
• Discuss student observations and answers to the accompanying questions. Ensure that students clearly understand what gerrymandering is by asking them to define it in their own words before moving on to the next part of the lesson. 

Explore: 

• Transition: Say, “Whenever a drawing of an electoral boundary occurs, debates over fairness and representation follow. Now we’ll look at two landmark Supreme Court cases that took up questions of representation and gerrymandering.” 
• Have students look at the Baker v. Carr (1962) and Shaw v. Reno (1993) primary sources and the accompanying questions for each source. 

Assess and Reflect: 

• Distribute the graphic organizer and review the main ideas of each case and the decisions of the Court. Direct students to answer the final question at the bottom of the graphic organizer handout: 
• Based on the sources you have read, what is the relationship between gerrymandering and the concepts of representation and consent of the governed?  

Extend: 

• Have students research the district boundaries within their own state to determine if they think there is any evidence of gerrymandering. Have them share their findings with the class. 
• Have students complete the puzzles on http://gametheorytest.com/gerry/ 
• What does this game reflect about the question of representation, fairness, and gerrymandering? 
• Have students analyze other examples of gerrymandering cartoons from recent history. 
• Have students create their own political cartoon about gerrymandering with an explanation of how their cartoon connects to the idea of representation and fairness.  
• Have students examine the Supreme Court ruling in Allen v. Milligan (2023), and have them compare the decision to that of Shaw v. Reno (1993).