Throughout its history, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has called attention to the importance of the redistricting process for minority representation. To help those who share these concerns, and to understand the first redistricting process of the twenty-first century, the Joint Center convened a one-day conference entitled "Redistricting, 1992-2002: Voting Rights and Minority Representation." The May 2002 conference brought together many of the nation's most influential figures in the voting-rights and redistricting community. The six major papers presented at the conference form the core of this volume, which has been enriched by the inclusion of an introductory commentary by one of the conference's discussants. Voting Rights and Minority Representation will contribute to future enhancements of voting rights and minority representation.

With the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, the right of minorities to register and vote was largely secured. It was soon discovered, however, that minority voting did not guarantee the election of minorities or minority-preferred candidates. Indeed, efforts by states and localities in the second half of the 1960s were aimed at denying any substantial minority representation to go along with the ability to cast ballots. Eventually congressional amendments to the Act along with the Supreme Court opinion in Thornburg v. Gingles (1986) have led to efforts to eliminate electoral laws that have the effect of diluting the minority vote, whether or not they were enacted with discriminatory intent. Controversy still surrounds the matter of minority representation, however, because of the ambiguity of certain aspects of the law and because of problems in applying it to the largely single-member district context of the 1990s. This book is the most up-to-date treatment of voting rights law and the numerous controversies surrounding minority representation. The authors have extensive, firsthand experience in both the legal battles and the scholarly examination of these issues. Based on this wealth of experience, they describe the development of the law after 1965, discuss in detail the prevailing Supreme Court interpretation of the Voting Rights Act, and examine discrepancies in federal court interpretations of subsequent actions. They also introduce the reader to technical procedures for establishing standards of representation and measuring discrimination. In the final two chapters, they consider the application of voting rights law to districting in the 1990s along with the implicationsof recent developments for the future of representation in America.

This book provides an up-to-date analysis of American voting rights law and the numerous controversies surrounding minority representation. Written by authors with first-hand experience in the case law, the book details the evolution of the law and precedent from 1965 onwards. The authors explain the logic underlying the major decisions, introduce the reader to the procedures for establishing standards of representation and measuring discrimination, and discuss the major points of recent contention. In conclusion, they address the implications of recent developments in voting rights law for the future of representation in America.

The aim of this book is threefold. First to put in one place for the convenience of both scholars and practitioners the basic data on redistricting practices in democracies around the world. Remarkably, this data has never before been collected. Second, to provide a series of short case studies that look in more detail at particular countries with regard to the institutions and practices that have evolved for redistricting and the nature of the debates that have arisen. Third, to begin to look in comparative perspective at the consequences of alternative redistricting mechanisms and at the tradeoffs among competing redistricting criteria.
This volume has contributions from some of the leading specialists on redistricting in the world. The chapters reflect a mix of country-specific material, chapters that are broadly comparative, and chapters whose contributions are more methodological in nature. The chapters in this volume provide an indispensable introduction to the institutions, practices, and consequences of boundary delimitation around the world.
Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary issues in comparative government and politics. The General Editors are David M. Farrell, Jean Monnet Chair in European Politics and Head of School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester and Alfio Mastropaolo, University of Turin. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.