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102 Yale L.J. 105 (1992-1993)
Who Shall Rule and Govern--Local Legislative Delegations, Racial Politics, and the Voting Rights Act

handle is hein.journals/ylr102 and id is 117 raw text is: Who Shall Rule and Govern? Local Legislative
Delegations, Racial Politics, and the Voting
Rights Act*
Binny Millert
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION      ............................................... 106
I.   LEGISLATIVE DELEGATIONS: A FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS             ................ 113
A. Racial Politics ......................................... 115
B.   Origins of Delegations    ................................... 118
C.   Contemporary Developments ............................... 123
1.   Local Government Powers       ............................. 123
2.   Procedures for Passing Local Legislation ................... 127
3.   The Richmond County, Georgia Delegation .................. 131
II.  THEMES IN VOTING RIGHTS JURISPRUDENCE ........................ 137
A. Election Procedures: Formal Barriers to Participation ............. 138
B.   Vote Dilution: The Electoral Phase ........................... 140
* Terry v. Adams, 345 U.S. 461,469 (1953) (describing elective process as one that determines who
shall rule and govern in the county). In deploring the current state of politics, Professor Guinier has asserted
that [b]lacks may vote, but it is whites who will govern Lani Guinier, Keeping the Faith: Black Voters
in the Post-Reagan Era, 24 HARV. C.R.-C.L L. REv. 393, 394 (1984). On a lighter note, Mario Cuomo
has been quoted as saying campaigning is poetry, while governing is prose. Andy Logan, Around City
Hall, THE NEW YORKER, July 22, 1991, at 72.
t Associate Professor of Law, The American University, Washington College of Law. Although my
work on this article has benefitted from conversations with many people, I am especially grateful to the
voting rights activists of Augusta, Georgia, who aroused my interest in the machinations of local legislative
delegations. Many former colleagues from the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the United
States Department of Justice added their insights; I am especially indebted to Nancy Sardeson, Dianne
Thompson, Peyton McCrary, and Sheila Delaney. For thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this article,
I thank Robert Dinerstein, Ruth Eisenberg, Laughlin McDonald, Nancy Polikoff, Jamin Raskin, Robert
Vaughn, and Burton Wechsler. I greatly appreciate the unswerving encouragement offered by Ruth
Eisenberg, my law school colleagues, and other friends. Brian Benjet, Michael Lieberman, Justine Coffey-
Cannistra, and Alicia Benson contributed able and enthusiastic research assistance; Lauren Taylor provided
helpful editorial assistance; and Marlene Spletzer and Anne White added valuable administrative support.
I gratefully acknowledge the generous summer research grants provided by The American University,
Washington College of Law.
This article is dedicated to the Honorable Barrington D. Parker, Jr., who taught me so much, and who
shared with me his passion for equal justice and the values that illuminate legal doctrine.

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