Affirmative action in municipal government: Political, structural and demographic determinants of alternative strategies

Predictors of African American Representation in Municipal Government

“…He found that African American municipal employment levels are a function of African American city council representation in unreformed city governments, in Southern cities with ward elections, and in Western cities with at-large elections. Since Mladenka's research, studies (Kerr & Mladenka, 1994;McClain, 1993;Lewis & Nice, 1994;Sylvia & Haas, 1998) yield inconsistent results regarding the relationship between African American representation in municipal government and African American council members.…”

“…Beyond mayors and city council members, the most commonly investigated predictors of African American representation in municipal civil service are union strength, form of government, African American education level, the percentage of African Americans in the city population, municipal population, and geographic region. With few exceptions, the empirical research indicates that the municipal population and the percentage of African Americans in the city population have a positive association with African American representation in city government (Behr, 2000;Browning et al, 1984;Dye & Renick, 1981;Eisinger, 1982aEisinger, , 1982bHall & Saltzstein, 1977;Hutchins & Sigelman, 1981;Kerr & Mladenka, 1994;McClain, 1993;Mladenka, 1989;Stein, 1986;Sylvia & Haas, 1998).…”

“…As populations of cities increase, African American representation in municipal civil service is said to increase because residents of large cities tend to be more tolerant of minority elected officials, personnel directors, administrators, and the general mass of minority municipal employees (Kerr & Mladenka, 1994). Larger cities also often have greater employment opportunities for African Americans, more resources for advertising jobs at all levels, more media outlets that appeal to African Americans, and more articulate spokespersons to demand public jobs (Stein, 1986;Sylvia & Haas, 1998). Large African American municipal populations, in turn, allow for larger African American labor pools from which to hire at all levels and from which to recruit candidates for mayor and city council.…”