Unlocking V. O. Key, Jr.

by Maxwell, Angie; Shields, Todd G.

• ISBN13: 9781557289612
• ISBN10: 1557289611
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of Arkansas Pr

Summary

Over sixty years ago, political scientist V.O. Key Jr. published his seminal work, Southern Politics in State and Nation. Key's book redefined the field of southern politics and remains one of the most cited and influential works in twentieth-century political science and southern history. In Unlocking V.O. Key Jr., prominent southern scholars in history, political science, and southern and American studies reconsider Key's analysis, debating his omissions as well as highlighting the timeless elements of his work. Charles Reagan Wilson, Kari Frederickson, and Pearl K. Ford argue that Key's exclusion of religion, violence, and African American political participation altered the field of southern politics. Keith Gaddie and Justin Wert draw attention to Key's methodological innovations, while Margaret Reid questions Key's limited and gendered vision of the southern electorate. Harold Stanley discusses the complexity of teaching Key in the twenty-first century. Byron E. Shafer and Richard Johnston argue for the role that class and the economy played in the realignment of the South with the Republican Party, while Dan T. Carter points to race as the driving factor in this major shift. Susan MacManus tracks immigration trends in the region to explain contemporary southern political behavior. Supported with a foreword by Byron E. Shafer that provides an overview of Key's major contributions as a political scientist, and concluding with Wayne Parent's discussion of Key and the contemporary student, Unlocking V.O. Key Jr. is a must-read companion to the classic Southern Politics in State and Nation.

Author Biography

is the Diane D. Blair Professor of Southern Studies and assistant professor of political science at the University of Arkansas. is dean of the Graduate School and International Education, professor of political science, and director of the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society at the University of Arkansas.

Table of Contents

Foreword: The Master, the Acolytes, and the Study of American Politics	p. vii
Introduction: Unlocking V. O. Key Jr	p. xix
The Missing Pieces of Southern Politics in State and Nation
The Morality-Driven South: Populists, Prohibitionists, Religion, and V. O. Key Jr.'s Southern Politics	p. 3
V. O. Key Jr.'s Missing Link: Black Southern Political Culture and Development	p. 23
World War II, White Violence, and Black Politics in V. O. Key Jr.'s Southern Politics	p. 39
The Impact of Southern Politics on the Discipline
Unlocking Social Constructions in Southern Politics: V. O. Key Jr.'s Thin Democracy	p. 57
Before KKV, V. O. Key Jr.: Southern Politics and Social Science Methodology	p. 77
Reflections on Reading V. O. Key Jr.'s Southern Politics: Race, Politics, and Economics	p. 105
The Post-Key South
More than Race: Conservatism in the White South since V.O. Key Jr.	p. 129
Partisan Change in the Post-Key South	p. 161
V. O. Key Jr.'s Southern Politics: Demographic Changes Will Transform the Region; In-migration and Generational Shifts Speed Up the Process	p. 185
Conclusion: Evaluating V. O. Key Jr. and Advancing Our Understanding of Southern Politics	p. 207
Index	p. 219
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