Going Home: Black Representatives and Their Constituents

by Fenno, Richard F.

• ISBN13: 9780226241319
• ISBN10: 0226241319
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-02-01
• Publisher: UNIV OF CHICAGO PRESS

Summary

Thirty years ago there were nine African Americans in the U.S. House of Representatives. Today there are four times that number. In Going Home, the dean of congressional studies, Richard F. Fenno, explores what representation has meant--and means today--to black voters and to the politicians they have elected to office. Fenno follows the careers of four black representatives--Louis Stokes, Barbara Jordan, Chaka Fattah, and Stephanie Tubbs Jones--from their home districts to the halls of the Capitol. He finds that while these politicians had different visions of how they should represent their districts (in part based on their individual preferences, and in part based on the history of black politics in America), they shared crucial organizational and symbolic connections to their constituents. These connections, which draw on a sense of "linked fates," are ones that only black representatives can provide to black constituents. His detailed portraits and incisive analyses will be important for anyone interested in the workings of Congress or in black politics.

Author Biography

Richard F. Fenno is a Distinguished University Professor and William J. Kenan Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester. He is the author of a dozen books, including the classic Home Style: House Members in Their Districts and, most recently, Congress at the Grassroots: Representational Change in the South, 1970-1998.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
African American House Members and Representation	1	(10)
Change and Diversity	1	(1)
Inclusion, Influence, and Linkage	1	(2)
Representation and the Home Perspective	3	(2)
Conceptualization: Process, Connection, Negotiation, and Strategy	5	(1)
Elements of Strategy: Personal Goals, Constituency Contexts, and Experiential Learning	6	(2)
The Study	8	(3)
Louis Stokes: 1970--1976	11	(56)
The Pioneer Cohort	11	(3)
Personal Goals and Representational Strategy	14	(4)
Constituency Context	18	(6)
Electoral Connections	24	(6)
Policy Connections	30	(4)
Symbolic Connections	34	(3)
Organizational Connections and Experiential Learning	37	(7)
Personal Connections	44	(6)
Minority Connections	50	(3)
Liberty Hill Baptist Church	53	(3)
Institutional Career and Representation	56	(9)
Conclusion	65	(2)
Barbara Jordan: 1972--1973	67	(47)
Pioneer Cohort: Diversity	67	(1)
Personal Goals and Representational Strategy	68	(5)
Precongressional Career	73	(3)
Constituency Context	76	(5)
Early Negotiations and Experiential Learning	81	(4)
Constituency Connections: The Campaign	85	(14)
Institutional Career and Representation	99	(12)
Postscript	111	(1)
Conclusion	112	(2)
Chaka Fattah: 1996--2001	114	(64)
The Contemporary Cohort	114	(3)
Personal Goals and Representational Strategy	117	(4)
Constituency Context	121	(6)
Electoral Connections	127	(3)
Policy Connections	130	(10)
Symbolic Connections: The Dewey Street Award Program	140	(4)
Organizational Connections and Experiential Learning	144	(7)
Personal Connections	151	(3)
Institutional Career and Representation	154	(22)
Conclusion	176	(2)
Louis Stokes: Postscript, 1998	178	(12)
Representational Change	178	(1)
First Impressions	179	(1)
Constituency Context and Electoral Connections	180	(2)
Policy Connections	182	(1)
Symbolic Connections: Role Model	183	(2)
Organizational Connections: Party and Protection	185	(1)
Minority Connections	186	(1)
Institutional Career	187	(3)
Stephanie Tubbs Jones: 2000--2002	190	(61)
Succession	190	(1)
Precongressional Career	191	(4)
Electoral Connections and the Succession	195	(3)
Personal Goals and Representational Strategy	198	(5)
Constituency Context	203	(8)
Personal Connections	211	(8)
Policy Connections and Experiential Learning	219	(8)
Symbolic Connections	227	(6)
Organizational Connections	233	(9)
Institutional Career and Experiential Learning	242	(7)
Conclusion	249	(2)
Conclusion	251	(14)
Representation and Home	251	(2)
Change and Cohorts	253	(2)
Diversity and Personal Goals	255	(2)
Context and Policy Connections	257	(2)
Symbolic and Organizational Connections	259	(2)
Personal Connections	261	(1)
Negotiation and Learning	262	(1)
Institutional Careers and Home	263	(2)
Notes	265	(18)
Index	283