---
title: "U.S. stands out globally in how it draws legislative districts"
description: "Among 107 democracies, we found that only one other country uses the same redistricting approach as the U.S."
date: "2025-12-19"
authors:
  - name: "Drew DeSilver"
    job_title: "Senior Writer/Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/drew-desilver/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/12/19/us-stands-out-globally-in-how-it-draws-legislative-districts/"
categories:
  - "Democracy"
  - "Political Ideals & Systems"
  - "U.S. Democracy"
---

# U.S. stands out globally in how it draws legislative districts

So far this year, at least four states have redrawn their congressional districts with the stated goal of advantaging one party or the other in the 2026 midterms. [Several others](https://www.cbs19news.com/news/questions-remain-over-virginia-s-congressional-district-boundaries-as-redistricting-debate-continues/article_8198f597-5f82-4ca7-9989-61307add6cc6.html) are exploring similar moves.

With this [unprecedented wave](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/08/28/redistricting-between-censuses-has-been-rare-in-the-modern-era/) of voluntary midcycle redistricting in the United States, we wondered how redistricting works in other democracies – and whether the process is as [inherently political](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45951) as it is in the U.S.

We analyzed how 107 democracies elect their national legislatures (mostly unicameral, or the “lower house” in bicameral systems). We found that **only one other country uses the same redistricting approach as the U.S. **– that is, single-member districts drawn mainly by state legislatures. That country is the Federated States of Micronesia, with a population of around 100,000, which was formerly administered by the U.S. under a United Nations trusteeship.

(Read “How we did this” for details on how we defined democracies and other key concepts in this analysis.)

**How we did this**

Given the continuing battles over midcycle redistricting in the United States, Pew Research Center decided to compare districting procedures in the U.S. with those in other nations determined to be democratic using the process below.

Our first task was to decide which nations counted as democracies. We consulted the democracy rankings of three leading research organizations: [Freedom House](https://freedomhouse.org/country/scores), the [Economist Intelligence Unit](https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/democracy-index-2024/) (EIU), and the [Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute](https://www.v-dem.net/documents/60/V-dem-dr__2025_lowres.pdf) at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg.

Since not all countries were rated by all three organizations, and they each use their own rating system, we chose to define a country as a democracy in one of two ways:

- Freedom House: Rated “free” or “partly free,” but only if it also met the organization’s definition of an “electoral democracy”

- EIU: Rated “full democracy” or “flawed democracy”

- V-Dem: Rated as a “liberal democracy” or “electoral democracy”

- When ranked *only* by Freedom House, it was both rated “free” and met the organization’s definition of an “electoral democracy.”

Using these criteria, 107 nations and other self-governing territories qualified as democracies.

Of those countries, 62 have unicameral (one-chamber) national legislatures, and 45 are bicameral (two chambers). We chose to focus on the unicameral legislatures and the “lower chambers” of the bicameral bodies. That was because the lower chambers tend to be larger and more powerful, and because only 24 of the upper chambers are directly elected.

For each country, we checked a variety of sources to learn how the legislative body in question was elected; whether districts were used and, if so, whether they were single-member, multimember or a combination; and how and by whom districting decisions were made. For countries that primarily use multimember districts, we also researched how they determine the number of lawmakers elected by each district.

To answer these questions, we turned first to three reference guides: the [CIA World Factbook](https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/), a compendium of information on 258 countries and other territories; the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s [Parline dataset](https://data.ipu.org/) about how national legislatures are chosen and operate; and the [ACE Electoral Knowledge Network](https://aceproject.org/regions-en?set_language=en), an online repository of information and data about elections and election systems around the world. We also examined each country’s constitution and electoral laws, as appropriate, and the websites of relevant election administration agencies and boundary commissions.

Finally, we used ACE’s online [encyclopedia of boundary delimitation](https://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/bd/annex/bd40) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance’s [handbook of electoral system design](https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/electoral-system-design-the-new-international-idea-handbook.pdf) to inform our classification of electoral systems and districting schemes.

We split our group of 107 democracies into two main subgroups: those that make substantial use of single-member districts and those that primarily use multimember districts. Of the latter group, the 42 that use a proportional-representation electoral system were automatically put in the “primarily multimember” subgroup; so were Tuvalu and Nauru, which elect all their lawmakers from multimember districts but use plurality/majority electoral systems. The 22 countries that elect all their lawmakers from single-member districts were the core of the “substantially single-member” subgroup.

We found that 28 other countries use various combinations of single- and multimember districts, at-large voting, appointed members and ex-officio members. If a country elected at least 45% of its legislators from single-member districts, it was deemed to be a “substantially single-member” system.

We didn’t do any detailed analysis of the 13 countries that elect all their lawmakers in a nationwide at-large vote, since they don’t use districts of any kind.

In some countries, particularly the United Kingdom and its former colonies, the head of state (monarch, governor-general or president) formally decrees new districting plans. However, since in practice those plans are drawn up elsewhere and the head of state’s role is purely ceremonial, we did not count them as being part of the process.

#### How districts are used in other countries

For starters, many democracies around the world don’t use single-member districts, at least not to the same extent as the U.S., where they’re universal in both Congress and state legislatures. Single-member districts are those in which one lawmaker is elected to represent a specific geographic area.

Among the 107 democracies we examined, 22 (or 21%) elect *all* their national legislators from such districts. Of the remaining places:

- 20 elect a substantial share of lawmakers from single-member districts and the rest in some other way, such as from multimember districts or by a national vote.

- 52 use multimember districts primarily or exclusively.

- 13 elect all their lawmakers at-large nationwide.

Of the 42 democracies that use single-member districts exclusively or substantially, all but nine have historical links to either the United Kingdom, the U.S. or one of their former colonies.

### U.S. is among 42 democracies that exclusively or primarily use single-member legislative districts

*Democracies* that ___ in electing national legislators*

| ISO-3 | ISO | Country* | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ALB | 008 | Albania | Primarily use multimember districts |
| AND | 020 | Andorra | Primarily use multimember districts |
| ATG | 028 | Antigua and Barbuda | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| ARG | 032 | Argentina | Primarily use multimember districts |
| ARM | 051 | Armenia | Employ a nationwide vote |
| AUS | 036 | Australia | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| AUT | 040 | Austria | Primarily use multimember districts |
| BHS | 044 | Bahamas | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| BRB | 052 | Barbados | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| BEL | 056 | Belgium | Primarily use multimember districts |
| BLZ | 084 | Belize | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| BTN | 064 | Bhutan | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| BOL | 068 | Bolivia | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| BWA | 072 | Botswana | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| BRA | 076 | Brazil | Primarily use multimember districts |
| BGR | 100 | Bulgaria | Primarily use multimember districts |
| CPV | 132 | Cape Verde | Primarily use multimember districts |
| CAN | 124 | Canada | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| CHL | 152 | Chile | Primarily use multimember districts |
| COL | 170 | Colombia | Primarily use multimember districts |
| CRI | 188 | Costa Rica | Primarily use multimember districts |
| HRV | 191 | Croatia | Primarily use multimember districts |
| CYP | 196 | Cyprus | Primarily use multimember districts |
| CZE | 203 | Czech Republic | Primarily use multimember districts |
| DNK | 208 | Denmark | Primarily use multimember districts |
| DMA | 212 | Dominica | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| DOM | 214 | Dominican Republic | Primarily use multimember districts |
| TLS | 626 | East Timor | Employ a nationwide vote |
| ECU | 218 | Ecuador | Primarily use multimember districts |
| EST | 233 | Estonia | Primarily use multimember districts |
| FJI | 242 | Fiji | Employ a nationwide vote |
| FIN | 246 | Finland | Primarily use multimember districts |
| FRA | 250 | France | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| DEU | 276 | Germany | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| GHA | 288 | Ghana | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| GRC | 300 | Greece | Primarily use multimember districts |
| GRD | 308 | Grenada | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| GUY | 328 | Guyana | Primarily use multimember districts |
| HUN | 348 | Hungary | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| ISL | 352 | Iceland | Primarily use multimember districts |
| IND | 356 | India | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| IRL | 372 | Ireland | Primarily use multimember districts |
| ISR | 376 | Israel | Employ a nationwide vote |
| ITA | 380 | Italy | Primarily use multimember districts |
| JAM | 388 | Jamaica | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| JPN | 392 | Japan | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| KIR | 296 | Kiribati | Primarily use multimember districts |
| XKX |  | Kosovo | Employ a nationwide vote |
| LVA | 428 | Latvia | Primarily use multimember districts |
| LSO | 426 | Lesotho | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| LBR | 430 | Liberia | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| LIE | 438 | Liechtenstein | Primarily use multimember districts |
| LTU | 440 | Lithuania | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| LUX | 442 | Luxembourg | Primarily use multimember districts |
| MWI | 454 | Malawi | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| MYS | 458 | Malaysia | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| MLT | 470 | Malta | Primarily use multimember districts |
| MHL | 584 | Marshall Islands | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| MUS | 480 | Mauritius | Primarily use multimember districts |
| MEX | 484 | Mexico | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| FSM | 583 | Micronesia, Federated States | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| MDA | 498 | Moldova | Employ a nationwide vote |
| MCO | 492 | Monaco | Employ a nationwide vote |
| MNG | 496 | Mongolia | Primarily use multimember districts |
| MNE | 499 | Montenegro | Employ a nationwide vote |
| NAM | 516 | Namibia | Employ a nationwide vote |
| NRU | 520 | Nauru | Primarily use multimember districts |
| NPL | 524 | Nepal | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| NLD | 528 | Netherlands | Employ a nationwide vote |
| NZL | 554 | New Zealand | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| MKD | 807 | North Macedonia | Primarily use multimember districts |
| CYP | 196 | Northern Cyprus | Primarily use multimember districts |
| NOR | 578 | Norway | Primarily use multimember districts |
| PLW | 585 | Palau | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| PAN | 591 | Panama | Primarily use multimember districts |
| PRY | 600 | Paraguay | Primarily use multimember districts |
| PER | 604 | Peru | Primarily use multimember districts |
| PHL | 608 | Philippines | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| POL | 616 | Poland | Primarily use multimember districts |
| PRT | 620 | Portugal | Primarily use multimember districts |
| ROU | 642 | Romania | Primarily use multimember districts |
| WSM | 882 | Samoa | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| SMR | 674 | San Marino | Employ a nationwide vote |
| STP | 678 | Sao Tome and Principe | Primarily use multimember districts |
| SEN | 686 | Senegal | Primarily use multimember districts |
| SYC | 690 | Seychelles | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| SVK | 703 | Slovakia | Employ a nationwide vote |
| SVN | 705 | Slovenia | Primarily use multimember districts |
| SLB | 090 | Solomon Islands | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| ZAF | 710 | South Africa | Primarily use multimember districts |
| KOR | 410 | South Korea | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| ESP | 724 | Spain | Primarily use multimember districts |
| LKA | 144 | Sri Lanka | Primarily use multimember districts |
| KNA | 659 | St. Kitts and Nevis | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| LCA | 662 | St. Lucia | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| VCT | 670 | St. Vincent and the Grenadines | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| SUR | 740 | Suriname | Employ a nationwide vote |
| SWE | 752 | Sweden | Primarily use multimember districts |
| CHE | 756 | Switzerland | Primarily use multimember districts |
| TWN | 158 | Taiwan | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| TON | 776 | Tonga | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| TTO | 780 | Trinidad and Tobago | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| TUV | 798 | Tuvalu | Primarily use multimember districts |
| GBR | 826 | United Kingdom | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| USA | 840 | United States | Make substantial use of single-member districts |
| URY | 858 | Uruguay | Primarily use multimember districts |
| VUT | 548 | Vanuatu | Primarily use multimember districts |

* Includes some fully self-governing territories whose sovereign status is disputed.Source: Pew Research Center research.

#### Why does the type of district matter?

Single-member districts are closely associated with “first past the post” electoral systems, where the candidate with the most votes – even if less than a majority – wins the seat. Indeed, of the 42 primarily or exclusively single-member district countries referred to above, 39 use this kind of system, including the U.S. (The other three use either two-round or ranked-choice voting systems.)

As a result, how single-member districts are drawn – whether they have reasonably equal populations, whether they include or exclude certain areas or discrete population groups, and so on – can dramatically affect election outcomes. Single-member districts also are especially vulnerable to [gerrymandering](https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2024/07/gerrymandering-the-origin-story/), where boundaries are intentionally manipulated to favor one party or interest group over another.

Multimember districts, by contrast, are typical of electoral systems that use proportional representation. In fact, of the 52 democracies that rely mainly on multimember districts, 42 elect *all* their lawmakers through some sort of proportional representation system. Two others, Italy and Panama, employ proportional representation as part of a mixed system. (The other eight multimember countries use a variety of other voting systems.)

Multimember districts tend to be fewer and larger than single-member districts. Countries using such districts can account for population shifts simply by changing *how many *legislators a district elects, rather than redrawing it. Voters in this type of system also generally choose parties rather than individual candidates, so district boundaries tend to matter less than the number of lawmakers each district elects.

#### How countries draw single-member districts

In the U.S., 44 states currently have more than one member of the House of Representatives and draw districts for them, normally once a decade after each census. The other six states have only one representative, elected at large.

Of the states with more than one House district, most (25) give their legislatures sole authority for redistricting, while commissions draw the lines in nine states. In the other 10 states, commissions and legislatures share the job to varying degrees.

### In most U.S. states, legislatures have primary redistricting authority

*Primary redistricting authority in state is ...*

| Name | FIPS | Primary authority | Redistricted in 2025? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Alabama | 01 | Legislature | No |
| Alaska | 02 | None (1 district) | N/A |
| Arizona | 04 | Commission | No |
| Arkansas | 05 | Legislature | No |
| California | 06 | Commission | Voluntarily, to give one party or the other an electoral advantage |
| Colorado | 08 | Commission | No |
| Connecticut | 09 | Shared | No |
| Delaware | 10 | None (1 district) | N/A |
| Florida | 12 | Legislature | No |
| Georgia | 13 | Legislature | No |
| Hawaii | 15 | Commission | No |
| Idaho | 16 | Commission | No |
| Illinois | 17 | Legislature | No |
| Indiana | 18 | Shared | No |
| Iowa | 19 | Shared | No |
| Kansas | 20 | Legislature | No |
| Kentucky | 21 | Legislature | No |
| Louisiana | 22 | Legislature | No |
| Maine | 23 | Shared | No |
| Maryland | 24 | Legislature | No |
| Massachusetts | 25 | Legislature | No |
| Michigan | 26 | Commission | No |
| Minnesota | 27 | Legislature | No |
| Mississippi | 28 | Legislature | No |
| Missouri | 29 | Legislature | Voluntarily, to give one party or the other an electoral advantage |
| Montana | 30 | Commission | No |
| Nebraska | 31 | Legislature | No |
| Nevada | 32 | Legislature | No |
| New Hampshire | 33 | Legislature | No |
| New Jersey | 34 | Commission | No |
| New Mexico | 35 | Shared | No |
| New York | 36 | Shared | No |
| North Carolina | 37 | Legislature | Voluntarily, to give one party or the other an electoral advantage |
| North Dakota | 38 | None (1 district) | N/A |
| Ohio | 39 | Shared | Pursuant to state law or a court order |
| Oklahoma | 40 | Legislature | No |
| Oregon | 41 | Legislature | No |
| Pennsylvania | 42 | Legislature | No |
| Rhode Island | 44 | Shared | No |
| South Carolina | 45 | Legislature | No |
| South Dakota | 46 | None (1 district) | N/A |
| Tennessee | 47 | Legislature | No |
| Texas | 48 | Legislature | Voluntarily, to give one party or the other an electoral advantage |
| Utah | 49 | Shared | Pursuant to state law or a court order |
| Vermont | 50 | None (1 district) | N/A |
| Virginia | 51 | Shared | No |
| Washington | 53 | Commission | No |
| West Virginia | 54 | Legislature | No |
| Wisconsin | 55 | Legislature | No |
| Wyoming | 56 | None (1 district) | N/A |

Note: California has temporarily bypassed its redistricting commission, pursuant to ballot measure approved November 2025. A legislative-drawn map will be in effect through the 2030 election. Refer to the "Data" tab for more information.Source: Ballotpedia, All About Redistricting, Pew Research Center research.

This isn’t how it’s done in most other places. In more than two-thirds of the democracies that heavily rely on single-member districts (29 of 42), special commissions or national election agencies have primary responsibility for drawing the lines. Lawmakers’ role, if any, is limited.

### Who draws the district lines?

*In countries* that elect substantial shares of their national legislatures from single-member districts*

| Country* | Primary delimitation authority | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Antigua and Barbuda | National commission (with legislative approval) |  |
| Australia | Subnational commissions |  |
| Bahamas | National commission (with legislative approval) |  |
| Barbados | National commission (with legislative approval) |  |
| Belize | National legislature (upon recommendation of national election agency) |  |
| Bhutan | National commission (alone) |  |
| Bolivia | National election agency (alone) |  |
| Botswana | National commission (alone) |  |
| Canada | Subnational commissions |  |
| Dominica | National commission (with legislative approval) |  |
| France | Hybrid (executive, legislature, judiciary) |  |
| Germany | National commission (with legislative approval) |  |
| Ghana | National election agency (alone) |  |
| Grenada | National commission (with legislative approval) |  |
| Hungary | National legislature (alone) |  |
| India | National commission (alone) | No actual redistricting has occurred since early 2000s. |
| Jamaica | National legislature (alone) |  |
| Japan | National legislature (alone) |  |
| Lesotho | National election agency (alone) |  |
| Liberia | National election agency (alone) |  |
| Lithuania | National election agency (alone) |  |
| Malawi | National election agency (with legislative approval) |  |
| Malaysia | National election agency (with legislative approval) |  |
| Marshall Islands | Constitution |  |
| Mexico | National election agency (alone) |  |
| Micronesia, Fed. States | State legislatures |  |
| Nepal | National commission (alone) |  |
| New Zealand | National commission (alone) |  |
| Palau | Coterminous with existing state boundaries |  |
| Philippines | National legislature (alone) | The Philippine Congress has not passed a general reapportionment law since 1987, though many individual districts have been created and redrawn ad hoc. |
| Samoa | National legislature (alone) |  |
| Seychelles | National legislature (upon recommendation of national election agency) |  |
| Solomon Islands | National election agency (with legislative approval) |  |
| South Korea | National commission (with legislative approval) |  |
| St. Kitts and Nevis | National commission (with legislative approval) |  |
| St. Lucia | National commission (with legislative approval) |  |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | National commission (alone) |  |
| Taiwan | National legislature (upon recommendation of national election agency) |  |
| Tonga | National commission (alone) |  |
| Trinidad and Tobago | National election agency (with legislative approval) |  |
| United Kingdom | Subnational commissions |  |
| United States | State legislatures | In most U.S. states the legislature has ultimate authority over district boundaries. |

* Includes some fully self-governing territories whose sovereign status is disputed.

Source: Pew Research Center research.

In the United Kingdom, for instance, the government appoints [boundary commissions](https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/about-us/) for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The four commissions, operating independently of the government, review the boundaries of the UK’s 650 parliamentary districts (called “constituencies”) every eight years. Their recommendations are implemented by government order; since 2020, Parliament itself hasn’t played any direct role.

Other countries use similar systems as the UK:

- In Canada, commissions in [each of the country’s 10 provinces](https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=cir/red/rolecom&document=index&lang=e) redraw the 343 election districts (called “ridings”) for the House of Commons.

- In New Zealand, where 71 of the 120 or so members of the House of Representatives are elected from single-member districts, an independent [Representation Commission](https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/what-are-electorates/how-are-electoral-boundaries-decided/) redraws boundaries for the entire nation.

- In Mexico, where 300 of the 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies are chosen from single-member districts, drawing those districts is one of the tasks of the [National Electoral Institute](https://www.ine.mx/que-hace-el-ine/), the country’s highest election authority.

In eight of the 42 countries that make substantial use of single-member districts, the national legislature sets district boundaries by law. Three do so upon the recommendation of the national election agency, while two – the U.S. and the Federated States of Micronesia – give the responsibility to states. (In addition to sharing 10 district seats, each of Micronesia’s four states elects one legislator at large.)

The other three countries in this group use different methods: Palau has each of its 16 states elect one lawmaker. The Marshall Islands sets district boundaries in its constitution. And France employs a hybrid system involving all three branches of the national government.

Having a commission in law, though, doesn’t always mean it operates in practice. For example, after every decennial census, India’s Delimitation Commission is supposed to reallocate seats in the lower house of Parliament among the states and redraw district boundaries. However, [both procedures have been repeatedly delayed](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy05k2djddqo): Boundaries were last redrawn in the early 2000s, based on the 2001 census, and the current seat allocation is based on the 1971 census. Seats won’t be reallocated or districts redrawn until after the [next Indian census](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2133845), currently set for 2027.

#### How countries draw multimember districts

Nearly half – 24 – of the 52 multimember-centric democracies base their districts on existing states, provinces or administrative divisions. Two others have districts based on historic provinces (Finland) or counties (Norway), though the precise boundaries are set otherwise.

Twenty-one multimember countries specify their district divisions in their national electoral laws. In most of those (17), the legislature can act alone. In two (Panama and Kiribati), the legislature acts on the recommendation of the national election agency. And in two others (Mauritius and Ireland), it acts on the recommendation of an independent commission.

Among the remaining multimember countries:

- 3 specify district composition in their constitutions.

- 2 have their national election agencies set boundaries (alone in Vanuatu, with legislative approval in Malta).

- A different government agency draws the lines in Norway.

- Sri Lanka uses a boundary commission.

#### Allocating seats in multimember district countries

Since multimember countries can account for population changes by adjusting the number of legislators a district elects (rather than redrawing its boundaries), we also looked at how the 52 multimember democracies decide how many lawmakers each district gets to choose.

In 20 countries, seats are allocated via electoral laws. The national legislature can change those allocations on its own in 17 countries. In the other three, it acts on the recommendation of the national elections agency.

Three countries specify seat allocations in their constitutions, while 15 others include population-based allocation formulas in their constitutions or electoral law. (Some, but not all, also specify which agency or official actually makes the calculations.)

In 10 countries, the national elections agency allots the seats (also based on population, but without reference to a specific formula or method). In three countries, the executive branch allocates seats, and in Sao Tome and Principe, the job falls to the Constitutional Court.