1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910791783903321

Autore

Grose Christian R.

Titolo

Congress in black and white : race and representation in Washington and at home / / Christian R. Grose [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2011

ISBN

1-107-22080-7

1-139-01247-9

1-283-01599-4

9786613015990

1-139-01168-5

1-139-01194-4

1-139-01115-4

1-139-01088-3

0-511-97682-8

1-139-01141-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiv, 242 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

328.730089/96073

Soggetti

African American legislators

Gerrymandering - United States

African Americans - Government policy

Civil rights - Government policy - United States

Representative government and representation - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Machine generated contents note: 1. African-American legislators, African-American districts, or democrats?; 2. A unified theory of African-American representation in Congress; 3. The "hollow hope" of civil rights change in the US House; 4. Location, location, location: delivering constituency service to African-Americans; 5. Constituency service in the district: connecting black legislators, black staff, and black voters; 6. Bringing home the bacon: delivering federal "pork" to African-Americans; 7. The future of racial redistricting: black decisive districts.



Sommario/riassunto

The 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.