Cite as: 512 U. S. 874 (1994)
Thomas, J., concurring in judgment
supra, at 586 (opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part). The choice is inherently a political one, and depends upon the selection of a theory for defining the fully "effective" vote—at bottom, a theory for defining effective participation in representative government. In short, what a court is actually asked to do in a vote dilution case is "to choose among competing bases of representation—ultimately, really, among competing theories of political philosophy." Baker, supra, at 300 (Frankfurter, J., dissenting).
Perhaps the most prominent feature of the philosophy that has emerged in vote dilution decisions since Allen has been the Court's preference for single-member districting schemes, both as a benchmark for measuring undiluted minority voting strength and as a remedial mechanism for guaranteeing minorities undiluted voting power. See, e. g., Growe v. Emison, 507 U. S. 25, 40 (1993); Gingles, supra, at 50, n. 17 (declaring that the "single-member district is generally the appropriate standard against which to measure minority group potential to elect"); Mobile v. Bolden, 446 U. S. 55, 66, n. 12 (1980) (plurality opinion) (noting that single-member districts should be preferred in court-ordered remedial schemes); Connor v. Finch, 431 U. S. 407, 415 (1977) (same). Indeed, commentators surveying the history of voting rights litigation have concluded that it has been the objective of voting rights plaintiffs to use the Act to attack multimember districting schemes and to replace them with single-member districting systems drawn with majority-minority districts to ensure minority control of seats. See Guinier, 14 Cardozo L. Rev., at 1151; Guinier 49-54; Thern-strom 193.
It should be apparent, however, that there is no principle inherent in our constitutional system, or even in the history of the Nation's electoral practices, that makes single-member districts the "proper" mechanism for electing representatives to governmental bodies or for giving "undiluted" effect to the votes of a numerical minority. On the contrary, from
897
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