Gerrymandering is about as old as the United States, and in the past few years, the manipulation of political district lines has been the subject of debate. What makes solving the problem of gerrymandering so tough is, well, not everyone agrees on the problem.

One of the main goals behind FiveThirtyEight’s Gerrymandering Project is to distill these many debates around gerrymandering — and gerrymandering reform — in order to better understand the ways in which our political system adapts to new trends. But you don’t need to be an expert on gerrymandering to take part in The Gerrymandering Project. This video is the first in a trio that breaks down gerrymandering and all of its inescapable complications — starting with the basics.