Date: Wed, 6 Mar 1996 05:55:10 -0500
From: Charlotte Kates <ckates-AT-mosquito.com>
Subject: Proportional Representation,Radical Democracy, and Lani Guinier


Actuall, the proportional representation system that she proposes would give
much more than racial minorities power. When tried in NYC in the 1930s,
there were, 5 parties that finished with seats, as opposed to the usual
two--Democrat, Republica, Liberal, American Labor and Communist. The system
was eliminated by the end of the forties for the purpose of ending such
diversity. PR nowadays has been a positive force for democracy and openness,
and some form is used in most of the world. In one election, I am not sure
whether PR was actually used, or if it was a breakdown of the votes--two
indepdndent parties would receive seating the otherwise would not. To many
of us in the third party or labor party movements, PR is a welcome change.
Any thoughts, Kevin Cabral (or anyone else)? Charlotte 

At 12:39 AM 3/7/96 -0800, you wrote:
>
>>From Leo Re: Lani Guinier
>
>> I don't think that the work is
>>particularly radical, but it is certainly democratic, and addresses some
>>important issues concerning African-American political representation in a
>>racist society. David Plotke wrote one of the most interesting critiques of
>>it in a recent issue of _Dissent_, and then he and she had a little debate.
>
>It certainly isn't democratic (relying here on book reviews, though not
>Plotke's).  The explicit purpose is to guarantee minority rights over and
>against majority rule.  Rather crudely, Guinier seems to have been inspired
>by the Federalist concern to protect minority rights, forgetting that their
>minority was actually the elite class of property owners.  
>
>At any rate, Sheldon Wolin has written about how the Federalists attempted
>to check popular democratic control.  I believe that he first advanced the
>argument in the now defunct journal democracy, ed. N. Xenos; the essays
>later became the basis of a book, I believe.  So Guinier seems to be
>ignorant of the roots and the class nature of the discourse which she has
>attempted to apply in a different context.
>
>As to actual political project of creating racial "minority-majority"
>districts, this has been far from benign.  While Guinier may have been
>attacked by Republicans, it should be noted that racial redistricting was
>actually approved by the Reagan and Bush administrations.  Some have even
>argued that it has had the consequence of more overall Republican
>victories, as Democratic voters are more concentrated in single racial
>districts.  There is also the more important, long-term consequence of how
>such redistricting contributes to the racialization of consciousness and
>conflict, further undermining the base for democratic action among the
>masses as a whole. 
>
>For such considerations, see Classifying By Race, ed. Paul E Peterson
>(Princeton, 1995)
> 
>
>
>
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