In the 1970s, Saddam Hussein reorganized Iraq into eighteen provinces to divide minority ethnic groups and weaken their ability to challenge the central government. This action is not a historical quirk. Throughout history, politicians have drawn (and redrawn) administrative boundaries within their countries to foster political stability and cement their hold on power, with the reorganization of subnational boundaries in interwar Czechoslovakia and the Roman Empire being other prominent examples.
While gerrymandering in electoral democracies is well-studied, the manipulation of subnational administrative boundaries in all types of political regimes is an equally important but under-researched field.
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