African Americans and the American Political System

by Barker, Lucius J.; Jones, Mack; Tate, Katherine

• ISBN13: 9780137795628
• ISBN10: 0137795629
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-07-30
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Offers a systematic, theoretical, and structural framework for more accurate appraisal of the relative nature and influence of governing institutions and of past, present, and recurring developments on African-American and American Politics generally.It's a dynamic systematic appraisal of how African Americans fare within the prevailing theoretical, structural, and functioning patterns of the American political and governmental system. Offers new materials on Black Political participation and voting behavior, e.g., who votes in the Black community; the role of race, class, and gender in Black politics; the role of the economy in shaping the Black vote; the Black evaluations of their representatives in Congress. Comments on the changing nature and structure ofAfrican-American participation and influence in Congress and the Presidency: e.g., the Congressional Black Caucus and the overall relative role and participation of Blacks in congress and in the Clinton Presidency and Administration.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	ix
CHAPTER 1 BLACK AMERICA AND THE POLITICAL SYSTEM: THE POLITICS OF UNCERTAINTY	1	(31)
Frames of Reference and African American Politics	5	(1)
The Pluralist, Melting-Pot, Race Relations Cycle Model	6	(2)
The Colonial Model	8	(1)
The Dominant-Subordinate Group Model	9	(2)
Harris's Alternative Formulation	11	(2)
A Bit of History: The Politics of Uncertainty	13	(1)
The Beginning, 1619-1865	14	(2)
Emancipation, Reconstruction, and Nullification, 1866-1883	16	(1)
Terror, Lynching, and Reimposition of White Supremacy, 1884-1914	17	(1)
The Struggle for the Vote, 1915-1944	18	(1)
The Struggle for Racial Integration, 1945-1965	19	(1)
The Struggle for Economic Empowerment, 1966-Present	19	(1)
The Importance of Population Size and Strategic Distribution	20	(2)
The Black Population: Political-Social Profile	22	(4)
Conclusion	26	(1)
Topics for Discussion	27	(1)
Suggested Readings	27	(3)
Notes	30	(2)
CHAPTER 2 THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM	32	(22)
Unequal Socioeconomic Conditions--Wealth and Income	33	(3)
Black Wealth	36	(1)
Median Family Income	36	(2)
Income and Public Sector Employment	38	(2)
Labor Force Participation	40	(1)
Employment and Unemployment	40	(2)
Poverty	42	(3)
Black Business Ownership	45	(1)
Blacks and Whites Do Not See the Same Reality	46	(4)
Conclusion	50	(1)
Topics for Discussion	51	(1)
Suggested Readings	51	(2)
Notes	53	(1)
CHAPTER 3 THE NATURE OF THE SYSTEM	54	(18)
Political Philosophy and American Politics	54	(4)
American Political Values and "the Problem"	58	(5)
Features of the System	63	(3)
On Elites and Political Participation	66	(2)
Conclusion	68	(1)
Topics for Discussion	69	(1)
Suggested Readings	69	(1)
Notes	70	(2)
CHAPTER 4 THE QUEST FOR POLITICAL POWER	72	(38)
Voting as a Limited Resource	73	(2)
Mobilization and Empowerment in the Alabama Black Belt	75	(9)
Key Factors for Black Empowerment in the South	84	(2)
Machine Politics and Blacks in Chicago	86	(2)
The Election of Harold Washington	88	(3)
Political Lessons from Chicago	91	(3)
National Organizing as a Political Resource	94	(2)
Presidential Politics and Resource Mobilization	96	(2)
Ideology and Resource Mobilization--The New Black Conservatism	98	(1)
Policy Recommendations of the Black Conservatives	99	(2)
Measuring the Impact of the Black Political Power	101	(1)
Conclusion	102	(1)
Topics for Discussion	103	(1)
Suggested Readings	104	(2)
Notes	106	(4)
CHAPTER 5 THE SUPREME COURT AND THE POLITICS OF UNCERTAINTY	110	(48)
Statutory Interpretation	114	(1)
Courts and Judges	115	(2)
Courts and Judicial Selection	117	(2)
A Changing Federal Judiciary: The Rehnquist Court and the Reagan-Bush Legacy	119	(2)
Courts, Policy Making, and Civil Rights	121	(1)
Constitutionalizing Racism: Its Birth and Decline	122	(3)
The Warren Court and Racial Discrimination	125	(3)
Civil Rights in the Burger and Rehnquist Courts	128	(19)
Voting Arrangements and Reapportionment	147	(4)
The Poor in Court	151	(3)
Topics for Discussion	154	(1)
Suggested Readings	154	(1)
Notes	154	(4)
CHAPTER 6 COURTS, JUDGES, AND THE INTERACTION OF LAW AND POLITICS	158	(23)
The Thurgood Marshall Story	159	(2)
Thurgood Marshall, the Law, and the System: Tenets of an Enduring Legacy	161	(9)
Summary	170	(1)
Conclusion	170	(5)
Topics for Discussion	175	(1)
Suggested Readings	175	(2)
Notes	177	(4)
CHAPTER 7 CHANGE THROUGH POLITICS: INTEREST GROUPS	181	(32)
Interest Groups and the Political Process	182	(2)
Civil Rights Organizations: Quest for Survival and Role	184	(6)
Civil Rights Groups: Problems and Prospects	190	(16)
Interest Groups: Some Concluding Observations	206	(3)
Topics for Discussion	209	(1)
Suggested Readings	210	(1)
Notes	211	(2)
CHAPTER 8 CHANGE THROUGH POLITICS: POLITICAL PARTIES	213	(21)
The American Two-Party System	213	(4)
Blacks and the Republican Party: Freedom, Betrayal, and Abandonment	217	(4)
Blacks and the Democratic Party: Loyalty and Neglect	221	(2)
Jackson's Presidential Strategy in 1984 and 1988	223	(2)
The Impact of Jackson's Presidential Campaigns	225	(4)
The End of the Rebellion?	229	(2)
Topics for Discussion	231	(1)
Suggested Readings	231	(1)
Notes	232	(2)
CHAPTER 9 BLACK VOTERS AND ELECTORAL POLITICS	234	(20)
Who Votes in the United States? Theories of Political Participation	235	(2)
Black Participation and Group-Based Resources	237	(3)
Predicting Black Campaign Activism	240	(3)
Race and Voter Turnout: A Second Look	243	(2)
The Economy and Its Effect on the Black Vote	245	(2)
Black Attitudes toward Their Elected Representatives in Congress	247	(1)
Summary	248	(3)
Topics for Discussion	251	(1)
Suggested Readings	251	(1)
Notes	252	(2)
CHAPTER 10 AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE CONGRESSIONAL ARENA	254	(49)
Blacks in Congress	257	(7)
The Congressional Arena	264	(1)
Committees	265	(3)
Committee Chairperson	268	(10)
District Representatives with a National Constituency: The Congressional Black Caucus	278	(9)
The CBC in Perspective	287	(4)
Black Officials with Mostly White Constituencies	291	(3)
Conclusion	294	(3)
Topics for Discussion	297	(1)
Suggested Readings	297	(1)
Notes	298	(5)
CHAPTER 11 THE PRESIDENCY AND THE POLICY PROCESS: THE "POVERTY" OF BLACK POLITICS	303	(37)
Becoming President	304	(2)
Once in Office	306	(8)
The Policy Process: An Overview	314	(2)
Agenda Setting and Initiation	316	(1)
Agenda Setting and Electoral Politics	317	(1)
Agenda Setting and Interest Groups	318	(1)
Agenda Setting and Domestic Crises	319	(1)
Agenda Setting and the Idea Whose Time Has Come	319	(2)
Initial Outcome: The Legislative Product	321	(3)
Model Cities: The Policy Process in Action	324	(4)
Who Benefited?	328	(1)
Secondary Outcome: Administration and Impact	329	(2)
Response, Feedback, and Future Prospects	331	(2)
Topics for Discussion	333	(1)
Suggested Readings	333	(2)
Notes	335	(5)
CHAPTER 12 THE AUTHORS SPEAK OUT	340	(26)
Affirmative Action: What Is the Question?	340	(10)
Mack H. Jones
Welfare Reform: Scrapping the System and Our Ideals	350	(9)
Katherine Tate
Reality Checks for the National Conversation on Race: The President's Call and a Writer's Response	359	(7)
Lucius J. Barker
INDEX	366