Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-1161_dc8f.pdf
Page Number: 39

Cite as:  585 U. S. ____ (2018) 

13 

KAGAN, J., concurring 

solutions  to  the  nation’s  problems.  Brief  for  Bipartisan
Group  of  Current  and  Former  Members  of  Congress  as 
Amici Curiae 4; see id., at 10–23.  The state legislators tell 
a  similar  story.  In  their  view,  partisan  gerrymandering 
has “sounded the death-knell of bipartisanship,” creating a
legislative environment that is “toxic” and “tribal[ ].”  Brief 
for  Bipartisan  Group  of  65  Current  and  Former  State
Legislators as Amici Curiae 6, 25. 

I  doubt  James  Madison  would  have  been  surprised.
What,  he  asked  when  championing  the  Constitution,
would  make  the  House  of  Representatives  work?    The 
House  must  be  structured,  he  answered,  to  instill  in  its 
members “an habitual  recollection of their  dependence on
the people.”  The Federalist No. 57, p. 352 (C. Rossiter ed. 
1961).  Legislators  must  be  “compelled  to  anticipate  the
moment”  when  their  “exercise  of  [power]  is  to  be  re­
viewed.”  Ibid.  When that moment does not come—when 
legislators  can  entrench  themselves  in  office  despite  the
people’s  will—the  foundation  of  effective  democratic  gov­
ernance dissolves. 

And  our  history  offers  little  comfort.  Yes,  partisan
gerrymandering goes back to the Republic’s earliest days; 
and yes, American democracy has survived.   But  technol­
ogy  makes  today’s  gerrymandering  altogether  different 
from the crude linedrawing of the past.  New redistricting
software enables pinpoint precision in designing districts. 
With  such  tools,  mapmakers  can  capture  every  last  bit  of 
partisan  advantage,  while  still  meeting  traditional  dis­
tricting  requirements  (compactness,  contiguity,  and  the 
like).  See  Brief  for  Political  Science  Professors  as  Amici 
Curiae  28.    Gerrymanders  have  thus  become  ever  more
extreme  and  durable,  insulating  officeholders  against  all 
but the most titanic shifts in the political tides.  The 2010 
redistricting  cycle  produced  some  of  the  worst  partisan 
gerrymanders  on  record.    Id.,  at  3.  The  technology  will
only get better, so the 2020 cycle will only get worse.