Congress in Black and White: Race and Representation in Washington and at HomeThe symbolic importance of Barack Obama's election is without question. But beyond symbolism, does the election of African-American politicians matter? Grose argues that it does and presents a unified theory of representation. Electing African-American legislators yields more federal dollars and congressional attention directed toward African-American voters. However, race and affirmative action gerrymandering have no impact on public policy passed in Congress. Grose is the first to examine a natural experiment and exceptional moment in history in which black legislators – especially in the U.S. South – represented districts with a majority of white constituents. This is the first systematic examination of the effect of a legislator's race above and beyond the effect of constituency racial characteristics. Grose offers policy prescriptions, including the suggestion that voting rights advocates, the courts, and redistricters draw 'black decisive districts', electorally competitive districts that are likely to elect African Americans. |
Contents
| 1 | |
2 A Unified Theory of AfricanAmerican Representation in Congress | 14 |
3 The Hollow Hope of Civil Rights Change in the US House | 54 |
4 Location Location Location | 87 |
5 Constituency Service in the District | 110 |
6 Bringing Home the Bacon | 134 |
7 The Future of Racial Redistricting | 167 |
Other editions - View all
Congress in Black and White: Race and Representation in Washington and at Home Christian R. Grose No preview available - 2011 |
Congress in Black and White: Race and Representation in Washington and at Home Christian R. Grose No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
103rd Congress 104th Congress 1992 elections African African-American constituents African-American legislators aggregate Americans analysis black candidates black constituents black Democrats black interests black legislators black representatives black staff black voters black-decisive districts black-influence districts black-majority districts chapter civil rights civil rights voting congressional districts constituency service Corrine Brown decisions Democratic legislators dependent variable descriptive representation district black population district offices district staff effect electoral coalitions examine Grose HBCUs Hilliard hiring House member ideal point estimates impact Latino legislator’s race Lublin majority-minority districts median legislator Mel Watt members of Congress nonblack number of projects policy outcomes political pork projects project allocations projects to black racial gerrymandering racial redistricting racial representation racial trust reelection representation of black roll-call voting sample Sanford Bishop scholars South southern staffers substantive representation tricts U.S. House U.S. South U.S. Supreme Court Voting Rights Act whereas white Democrats white legislators white representatives white Republicans white voters white-majority districts