Illiberal Democracy at Work: Practicing, Upholding, and Discussing Gerrymandering in the State of Missouri, 1891-1922
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2025-07-10
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en
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Throughout the history of the United States, gerrymandering has been a frequently recurring aspect of the American political system in almost every redistricting cycle. Despite its prominent role in American politics, as of June 2025, up to this day, scholars have tended to study (historical) gerrymandering as a curious feature within the American political system rather than as an inherent aspect of the system. In this thesis, in light of recent political scholarly research, historical gerrymandering is examined as an illiberal democratic phenomenon within a liberal democratic constitutional framework based on a case study of the State of Missouri between 1891 and 1922. Adding to the traditional scholarly approaches centered around the statistical impact of gerrymandering, this thesis analyzes the practice within a new paradigm centered on the concept of 'illiberal democracy', which demonstrates how gerrymandering did not occur in isolation, but as a consistent phenomenon in the political dynamic of Missouri between 1890 and 1922 alongside other illiberal democratic phenomena that strengthened each other. This new paradigm tends to focus on gerrymandering as an unintended product of the liberal democratic framework of Missouri and American politics in general. The key question examined is how gerrymandering as an illiberal democratic phenomenon became an integral aspect of Missouri’s political dynamic between 1890 and 1922. Following an analysis of change and continuity in Missouri politics throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, a statistical analysis of attempted gerrymandering of the Congressional and Senatorial districts during the redistricting cycles of 1891, 1901, 1911, and 1921 is performed. Hereafter, by studying related illiberal democratic phenomena, such as voter fraud, violence, and partisan court decisions, combined with the use of liberal democratic reforms such as the Referendum Amendment of 1908, it is analyzed how gerrymandering was upheld and preserved. Finally, in order to understand the perception and discussion of the practice as well as the use of gerrymandering as an issue in political campaign rhetoric in order to mobilize voters and influence elections in the aforementioned time frame, a rhetorical analysis of the discussion of gerrymandering by partisan actors, primarily local partisan newspapers, is performed.
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