|
|
Article: Expressive harms, "bizarre districts," and voting rights: evaluating election-district appearances after Shaw v. Reno. (Symposium: The Future of Voting Rights After Shaw v. Reno)
- Article from:
- Michigan Law Review
- Article date:
- December 1, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Michigan Law Review Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Voting-rights controversies today arise from two alternative conceptions of representative government colliding like tectonic plates. On one side is the long-standing Anglo-American commitment to organizing political representation around geography. As embodied in election districts, physical territory is the basis on which we ascribe linked identities to citizens and on which we forge ties between representatives and constituents. On the other side is the increasing power of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA),(1) which organizes political representation around the concept of interest. The Act prohibits the dilution of minority voting power and thereby necessarily ...