Devolution and Black State Legislators

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Devolution and Black State Legislators
Challenges and Choices in the Twenty-first Century

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Tyson King-Meadows - Author
Thomas F. Schaller - Author

SUNY series in African American Studies

Price: $85.00
Hardcover - 302 pages

Release Date: July 2006

ISBN10: 0-7914-6729-5
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-6729-9

Price: $31.95
Paperback - 302 pages

Release Date: June 2007

ISBN10: N/A
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-6730-5

Price: $31.95
Electronic - 302 pages

Release Date: February 2012

ISBN10: N/A
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-8192-9

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Summary

Comprehensive study of the state of black state legislative politics.

Devolution and Black State Legislators examines whether black state legislators can produce qualitative gains in the substantive representation of black interests. Once a battle cry by southern conservatives, “new federalism” has shifted power from Washington to the respective state governments and, ironically, has done so as black state legislators grow in number. Tyson King-Meadows and Thomas F. Schaller look at the debates surrounding black political incorporation, the tradeoffs between substantive and descriptive representation, racial redistricting, and the impact of black legislators on state budgetary politics. They situate contemporary constraints on black state elites as the union of macro- and micro-level forces, which allows for a reconsideration of how the idiosyncrasies of political, economic, and geographic culture converge with the internal dynamics of state legislative processes to produce particular environments. Interviews with black legislators provide valuable insights into how such idiosyncrasies may deprive institutional advancement—committee assignments, chairmanships, and party leadership positions—of the influence it once afforded.

“This book stands apart from much of the work on minority legislators by combining sophisticated thinking about representation—elite behavior, mass preferences, and connections between the two—with a thorough understanding of institutional evolution and its effects. This is exceptional work, which I recommend enthusiastically.” — Gary M. Segura, coeditor of Diversity in Democracy: Minority Representation in the United States

“The authors present an exhaustive survey of the literature, both theoretical and empirical, with extensive analytical and illuminating commentary. They draw our attention to the significance of state legislators, particularly since the Republicans’ ‘Contract with America,’ the Republican capture of Congress in 1994, the greater conservativism of the population and the national government, and the accompanying devolution of power and resources to the state governments.” — David Covin, California State University at Sacramento

Tyson King-Meadows is Assistant Professor and Thomas F. Schaller is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. The State Link in the Chain

2. Race and Representation in State Legislatures

3. The Black Electoral Connection

4. When Identity and Constituency Collide at Roll Call

5. The Institutionalization of Black State Legislative Power

6. Black Legislators, Black Constituents, and the Devolution Revolution

7. Nationalizing Black State Interests

8. Devolutionary Dangers

Appendix A: Underlying Data for Figures 3.2a and 3.2b
Appendix B: Trends in AFDC/TANF Recipient Characteristics
Appendix C: Methods for Reexamining Sticks and Carrots

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Related Subjects

African American Studies
Leadership Studies
State and Local Politics

45005/45006(MR/MH/MC)