Racial redistricting in the United States: an introduction to Supreme Court case law
Le racial redistricting aux États-Unis : une introduction à la jurisprudence de la Cour suprême
Résumé
Racial redistricting is a form of territorial rearrangement of electoral districts implemented in the United States in 1990s. Its purpose and effect is to increase the number of districts with an African American or Hispanic majority in order to increase the number of elected officials from those minorities. Racial redistricting is thus a public procedure that takes explicit account of the ethno-racial identity of individuals. The emergence of racial redistricting is explained by the fact that, in the political and legal context of the late 1980s, the officials in charge of redistricting had a vested interest in adopting such a scheme in order to ensure their own continued presence in positions of power. However, racial redistricting had hardly been implemented than its constitutionality was challenged. The Supreme Court then defined the conditions for racial classifications to be validly taken into account in the redistricting process. The Court's complex case law is particularly concerned to make the account taken of racial factors in redistricting as invisible as possible. The objective is to ensure more complete integration of African Americans (and Hispanics) into the US political system.
Le redécoupage électoral effectué aux États-Unis dans les années 1990 a mis en évidence les effets d’une nouvelle méthode de promotion de l’égalité entre les Blancs et les Noirs (ainsi que les Hispaniques) : le racial redistricting. Ce mode de découpage électoral vise à permettre aux membres des minorités ethno-raciales d’élire un plus grand nombre de représentants de leur choix.
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