GEOGRAPHY AND SOVEREIGNTY - JURISDICTIONAL FORMATION AND RACIAL SEGREGATION

This article contrasts the constitutional treatment of two types of te rritorially defined political subdivisions: local governments and elec toral districts. The Supreme Court treats racially segregated electora l districts as constitutionally suspect while generally insulating mor e severely segregated local governments from constitutional scrutiny. An analysis of recent opinions involving both reapportionment and loca l government reveals the reason for this discrepancy: The Court genera lly describes the role of government in electoral reapportionment as t he active creation of subdivisions, whereas it describes the state's r ole in local government formation as the passive recognition of privat e residential decisions. The article argues that although superficiall y plausible, this dualism does not distinguish the electoral districts the Court attacks from the local governments it fails to scrutinize, nor should it be constitutionally relevant. The article argues that th e disparate treatment of racially defined electoral districts and simi larly situated local governments actually reflects a deeper tension in normative political thought between the desire for subgroup integrati on and the desire for subgroup representation through political solida rity. Because both desires are important, the goal of legal reform sho uld not be ''consistency,'' but rather a more informed effort at media ting the tension between the two desires. An analysis of social geogra phy and normative political theory relevant to race relations suggests that almost the opposite approach would be appropriate. A very differ ent approach from that of the Court would allow racially defined elect oral districts, wherein the dominant group must still negotiate with a broader political community at the legislative level in order to wiel d political power, and severely scrutinize racially defined local gove rnments, wherein the dominant group directly exercises state power wit hout the tempering influence of a broader political conversation.