ABSTRACT
Baker v. Carr, represents a landmark on the path to the enforcement of one of the guiding principles in American democracy. Baker appealed a lawsuit against the board governing Tennessee state elections and its chair, Joe Carr. He established that federal courts could take on questions of representation as they applied to the substantial equality of legislative districts. Baker required state legislatures to adopt new legislative districts following the decennial census and to ensure these districts were substantially equal in population. He was viewed by many states' rights advocates as political intervention by an activist Supreme Court. Baker was the Court's first substantial intervention into the matter of legislative redistricting and the political process, ensuring that a key democratic ideal was upheld. As a population moves around, representatives in growing areas represent more people than representatives from areas where population is stagnant or decreasing.
