Legal Research on May 4th Session 3

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" .---.. w r..-“ there IS a disclaimer in all 0
. ' . we are told, of course, _ 1‘ / a S
thi‘shilghsilrldlblelilii’g told it will not 11.:ipperti.bl;e::ei(1::ei.rtel:le» (liiid 8121;113:531 ,
i ' I tation W1 no .' . . _
thatthgrzlifdt—igabfiiiiegf the United States has pomted out, a dis
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claimer of this kind either negiites] tflte 10?;th tgcifzirgiitlgelilliznrighlte to,
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$2,355: taliied‘etdsvrd‘tiei rind, to hgave it counted, and that is what the 15th

' ' ' 'th this
' an 10 islation dealing W1
amendment entitles you to do, iiil'zcilnteg v01? to do, and I have no quar-

subject. that is what it would gubeing told there will have to be some

' t 0w we are
Is‘gi't‘blffli‘etsiil‘tts. 1V3V1iharii else is there? It can only mean percentages, goals,

quptfasr Mr Chairman. that this language is going to dto for {hpsvoggg
ea in this country what busing has done for educa -1ton.t and genti-
tdfieeslfighly disruptive and, I think, contrary to the in en

ments of the Great, vast majority of the members of this committee or
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of Mhre ghsaighiiiitehs I wind up this disiussion (hn myyodleergecgrgiclerrn
. ' i ‘ t is w ere . g g,

nal re resentation, and t a _ c .
ifggiinlbltoglatiizthingglse; there 13 not anytlurtigdelipnllfiteppecgqylophgg
‘ ' l' ' ' 'tcoune. . . .
beyond registering, voting, and havmg 1 “fall, \Yhflt do they mean?

lts. _ .
mean? They say we do not mean resu ean exactly What “7111mm

Wh in to m .
at can they mean? They are g0 % means. It means you are gomg

olds is sa ing section . _ , tes
girliggrti) 1:: is’tlructure vgur electoral process in your respective Sta

to guarantee proportional representation.

/
51

Regarding this matter of whether proportional representation is
a good thing if we choose to go that road, we should do it through
constitutional amendment. We cannot do it through the 15th amend-
ment because the 15th amendment does not guarantee that. It guaran-
tees the right to vote, Mr. Chairman, nothing more and nothing less.
I will support any reasonable legislation directed to that end.

Let me quote from the father of the Constitution James Madison,
in the Federalist No. 35. This is what he said about results, effects, and
proportional representation. He said:

The idea of an actual representation of all classes of the people by persons of
each class is altogether visionary. Unless it were expressly provided in the Con-
stitution, which it is not, that each difierent occupation should send one or more
members, the thing never would take place in practice.

He continues:

It is said to be necessary that all classes of citizens should have some of their

11 numbers in the representative body in order that their feelings and interests
may be better understood and attended to, but we have seen that this will never
happen under any arrangement that leaves the votes of the people free.

So says James Madison. Then he concludes:

It is not natural that a man who is a candidate for the favor of the people and
who is dependent on the suifrages on his fellow ciizens for the continuance of his
public honors should take care to inform himself of their dispositions and in-
clinations and should be willing to allow them their proper degree of influence
upon his conduct?

This is the great Madisonian model of consensus building in Amer-
ican democracy, that a candidate has to build a broad coalition of di-
verse groups and interests, racial, sexual, religious. It has never meant
in our system as a matter of democratic political theory that any par-
ticular entity could be guaranteed a particular result. It could not be
done on the basis of sex. It could not be done on the basis of religion.
And it ought not be done on the basis of race, however noble the in-
tentions, Mr. Chairman, and however honorable the goal. And I un-
derstand the good intentions of all of the gentlemen here.

I would simply inquire, Mr. Chairman, if we are going to move in
the direction of guaranteed resulhmhy would we confine it to race?
\Vhy would not we include sex? Why would not we include religion?
Proportional representation as a matter of democratic political theory
was rejected by the framers. The rejection is explained in the Federal-
ist N o. 35 by James Madison. Hesays our Constitution does not pro-
vide for it. 4