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2006 V.O. Key Award presented by the Southern Political Science Association
Documents political advances made by African Americans in the South over the last twenty-five years.
This authoritative study of contemporary state legislatures in the South provides a fascinating account of how African Americans have achieved noticeable political power since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. A history of racial discrimination and one-party Democratic dominance is being supplanted by African American empowerment in a competitive two-party system. Contributors examine the evolution of the Black Caucus, the growing number of African American lawmakers, and the rise of black legislators to important leadership positions in the legislatures of each of the southern states. Roll call data on key votes from several legislative sessions in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas are analyzed.
"The editors have a track record of publishing very good research on southern politics and state legislatures, and this is a well-written study of the central themes of African American descriptive representation, substantive representation, and biracial coalitions." — Sharon D. Wright Austin, author of Race, Power, and Political Emergence in Memphis
Contributors include Brandi J. Brassell, Michelle G. Briscoe, Charles E. Menifield, Keesha M. Middlemass, William Miller, Janine A. Parry, Barbara A. Patrick, Stephen D. Shaffer, Steven Tauber, and Peter W. Wielhouwer.
Charles E. Menifield is Associate Professor at the University of Memphis, where he teaches research methods, political statistics, budgeting and finance, and public management information systems. He is the editor of Representation of Minority Groups in the U.S.: Implications for the Twenty-first Century. Stephen D. Shaffer is Professor of Political Science at Mississippi State University and the coeditor (with Dale Krane) of Mississippi Government and Politics: Modernizers versus Traditionalists.
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