From Winning Elections to Influencing Policy: The Electoral-policy Link for Minority Voters (Law and Society)

309 Pages·2008·1.16 MB·English

by  Liza Abram Benham

Law and Society
Recent Scholarship

Edited by Melvin I. Urofsky

A Series from LFB Scholarly
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From Winning Elections to
Influencing Policy
The Electoral-Policy Link for Minority
Voters

Liza Abram Benham

LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC
New York 2008
Copyright © 2008 by LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC

All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Benham, Liza Abram, 1946-
From winning elections to influencing policy : the electoral-policy
link for minority voters / Liza Abram Benham.
p. cm. -- (Law and society)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59332-274-8 (alk. paper)
1. African Americans--Politics and government. 2. Apportionment
(Election law)--United States. 3. African Americans--Suffrage. I.
Title.
JK1924.B46 2008
324.6089'96073--dc22

2008011183

ISBN 978-1-59332-274-8

Printed on acid-free 250-year-life paper.

Manufactured in the United States of America.
Table of Contents
List of Tables......................................................................................vii
List of Figures......................................................................................xi
CHAPTER 1: Minorities Under Majority Rule................................1
Theoretical Implications: Decision-Making in a Democracy...........2
Practical Implications: The Voting Rights Act of 1965...................4
CHAPTER 2. The Tortured Past of the African American
Vote.............................................................................................21
Post-War Freedom, Or Not?...........................................................22
From a Military to a Statutory Front..............................................23
Freedmen’s Bureau, Reconstruction Acts and Other Early
Legislation.............................................................................24
Early African American Representation: Substantive,
Descriptive or Both?..............................................................30
Disfranchisement, Dilution: Dooming the Vote.............................32
Legislation, Court Decisions: A Second Reconstruction...............35
CHAPTER 3. Reconceptualizing Minority Voting and Its
Policy Impact.............................................................................59
Diverging Preferences....................................................................61
About the Research Design and Data.............................................65
Aggregating Preferences................................................................66
Hypotheses.....................................................................................72
CHAPTER 4. A Test of Minority Policy Responsiveness:
Data and Methods.....................................................................75
Moving On: The Great Migration..................................................78
Why They Moved..........................................................................79
The Analytic Equations................................................................104
CHAPTER 5. Representation and Policy Responsiveness: A
Results Test..............................................................................127
African American Population and Representation.......................128
Policy Responsiveness.................................................................139
v
vi Table of Contents
Isolating the Black Mayor Effect.................................................154
Implications of the Analysis.........................................................156
CHAPTER 6. Conclusion: Toward an Immigrant-Friendly
City...........................................................................................221
Representation..............................................................................221
Implications for Future Research.................................................246
Endnotes...........................................................................................259
Appendix: Copy of McDonald-Engstrom Telephone Survey
Questionnaire...........................................................................269
Bibliography.....................................................................................283
Index..................................................................................................295
List of Tables
Table 1-1. Key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965..............18
Table 1-2. At-Large and Single-Member Districts in Selected
Jurisdictions, 1980 and 1990.................................................19
Table 1-3. Black Elected Officials in Selected Jurisdictions,
1970-2000..............................................................................20
Table 2-1. Numbers of Early African American Elected
Officials, 1867-1908a.............................................................55
Table 2-2. Delegates in First State Conventions Under
Congressional Reconstruction, 1867-1869............................56
Table 2-3. Section 5 Cases in Which the Justice Department
Participated, 1976-1986, Selected States...............................57
Table 4-1. African American Migration From the South and
Region of Destination, 1870-1950.......................................111
Table 4-2. African American Urban and Rural Population (in
thousands), 1950-1980.........................................................112
Table 4-3. African American Urban and Rural Population (in
thousands) by Region, 1950-1980.......................................112
Table 4-4. Gains, Losses in African American Rural and
Urban Population (in thousands), 1910-1920......................112
Table 4-5. Potential Impact of African American Migrants on
Voting in Selected Cities, 1940-1950..................................113
Table 4-6. Election Districting in American Cities of 10,000 or
More, 1972..........................................................................113
Table 4-7. Election Districting by Region in Cities of 10,000
or More, 1972......................................................................114
Table 4-8. Election Districting Frequency, Census and
Telephone Samples..............................................................115
vii
viii List of Tables
Table 4-9. Election Districting Frequency by Region, Census
and Telephone Samples.......................................................115
Table 4-10. Forms of Government Frequency, Census and
Telephone Samples..............................................................115
Table 4-11. Form of Government Frequency by Region,
Census and Telephone Samples...........................................116
Table 4-12. Variables from Census and Telephone Samples,
Their Definitions and Sources.............................................116
Table 4-13. Frequency of Cases and Population Percentages
by State—Census Sample....................................................118
Table 4-14. Frequency of Cases and Population Percentages
by Region—Census Sample................................................119
Table 4-15. Frequency of Cases and Population Percentages
by State—Telephone Sample..............................................119
Table 4-16. Frequency of Cases and Population Percentages
by Region—Telephone Sample...........................................120
Table 4-17. Dependent Variable Frequencies, Census and
Telephone Survey Samples..................................................120
Table 5-1. Black Representation on Black Population, Census
Sample.................................................................................157
Table 5-2. Black Representation on Black Population in Cities
of Black Population<=50%, Census Sample.......................159
Table 5-3. Black Representation on Black Population by
Region, Census Sample.......................................................160
Table 5-4. Black Representation on Black Population,
Telephone Sample...............................................................161
Table 5-5. Black Representation on Black Population in Cities
of Black Population<=50%, Telephone Sample..................163
Table 5-6. Black Representation on Black Population by
Region, Telephone Sample..................................................164
Table 5-7. Privatized Refuse Collection on Black
Representation.....................................................................165
Table 5-8. Privatized Refuse Collection on Black
Representation by Region....................................................167
Table 5-9(a). Privatized Refuse Collection on Black
Representation, Midwest-North...........................................168
List of Tables ix
Table 5-9(b). Privatized Refuse Collection on Black
Representation, South-West................................................169
Table 5-10. Privatized Refuse Collection on Single Member
Districting............................................................................170
Table 5-11. Privatized Refuse Collection on Single Member
Representation.....................................................................173
Table 5-12. Privatized Refuse Collection on Black Mayors..............176
Table 5-13. Privatized Refuse Collection on Government
Form....................................................................................177
Table 5-14. Privatized Refuse Collection on City Age......................180
Table 5-15. Privatized Refuse Collection on Income........................183
Table 5-16. Privatized Refuse Collection on Income Growth...........186
Table 5-17. Privatized Refuse Collection on Population
Growth.................................................................................189
Table 5-18. Affirmative Action on Black Representation.................192
Table 5-19. Affirmative Action on Ward Districting,
Representation.....................................................................195
Table 5-20. Affirmative Action on Black Mayors.............................198
Table 6-1. African American Political Leadership and Policy
Responsiveness....................................................................248
Table 6-2. City Age, Black and Total Population, Population
and Income Decline, Black Mayor......................................250
Table 6-3. City Age, Black and Total Population, Population
and Income Decline, Black Mayor,—Regional
Analysis...............................................................................252
Table 6-4. Employment, Income, Black and Total Population,
Black Mayor........................................................................254
Table 6-5. Income, Employment, Black and Total Population,
Black Mayor........................................................................256