Actually, gerrymandering is a very large problem. The Supreme Court recently ruled that state legislatures can gerrymander as often as they want to protect their party as long as it is not detrimental to minorities. Consider that in the last Congressional election (2004), only 5 incumbents lost to challengers. That is a whopping 98% incumbency rate for the US House of Reps. Also, 83% of these wins were by a landslide. The lines for Congressional districts have been drawn in such a manner that there is little debate in races for most districts. Most seats have become safe seats for one party or the other. There is a complete lack of competition in these districts, enabling candidates who are either far right or far left to be elected quite easily. Thus, there is a polarizing effect in the House. Democracy is fundamentally based upon debate and competition, two things that gerrymandering has nearly eliminated entirely. I would call this a big problem.