Partisanship, Structure, and Representation: The Puzzle of African American Education Politics

Meier, Kenneth J.; Rutherford, Amanda

doi:10.1017/s0003055414000148

Cited by 23 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Currently, courts are applying “strict scrutiny” to districting that is predominantly based on race (Bowler, Donovan, and Brockington, :17); this may mean that courts will be less likely to prescribe districts as a remedy for vote dilution claims . Furthermore, recent studies have qualified the degree to which district elections increase minority representation over at‐large elections at the local level (Trounstine and Valdini, ; Meier and Rutherford, ). Such circumstances may increase the appeal of cumulative voting plans to remedy VRA claims.…”

Section: Cumulative Votingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voter Competence with Cumulative Voting*

Kimball

Kropf

2016

Social Science Quarterly

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Objective. This article evaluates the voting experience in the first election using cumulative voting for the Board of Trustees in Port Chester, New York. A growing number of local jurisdictions in the United States are using cumulative voting for multimember elections. While the Port Chester election included some other new features in addition to cumulative voting, the village implemented an extensive voter education program to prepare voters and candidates for the election. Methods. We conducted an exit poll of 1,946 Port Chester voters in June 2010, more than half of the voters in the local election. We used a variety of survey questions to measure voting experience and voting behavior. We also examined election returns for Port Chester, including the 2010 and 2013 elections using cumulative voting. Results. We find that the voter education program helped inform residents about casting a ballot with cumulative voting. Port Chester voters, and Hispanic voters in particular, reported a positive experience in the 2010 election. A large majority of voters also indicated that they understood cumulative voting and cast all of the votes allotted to them. Finally, we find evidence of strategic use of cumulative voting in order to help elect a candidate of one's choice. Conclusions.Our results indicate that voters are capable of effectively participating in elections with cumulative voting. Communities that are weighing the adoption of cumulative voting for local elections should also be prepared to implement a parallel voter education effort.

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Section: Cumulative Votingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voter Competence with Cumulative Voting*

Kimball

Kropf

2016

Social Science Quarterly

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“…The primary quantity of interest is the marginal effect of conversion estimated at a given level of Latino population, or

β_{2} + β_{3} * proportionLatino

, because if the reform did indeed improve minority electoral outcomes, then the Latino composition of school boards should rise with the size of the Latino population in the district. This is the modeling approach recommended by Engstrom and McDonald (1981) and used in other recent empirical studies on the subject (e.g., Meier and Rutherford 2014; Trounstine and Valdini 2008).…”

Section: Causal Identification Through the Cvramentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there is substantial evidence that ward elections for local office result in greater representation for Black and Latino voters (Davidson and Grofman 1994; Davidson and Korbel 1981; Engstrom and McDonald 1981; Karnig and Welch 1982; Leal, Martinez‐Ebers, and Meier 2004; Marschall, Ruhil, and Shah 2010; Meier et al. 2005; Molina Jr. and Meier 2018; Moncrief and Thompson 1992; Polinard 1994; Robinson and England 1981; Stewart, England, and Meier 1989; Trounstine and Valdini 2008), a number of additional studies have found no effect (Bullock and MacManus 1987; Cole 1974; Fraga 2009; MacManus 1978; Welch 1990), with still others that posit a negative association between ward elections and minority electoral success (Meier and Rutherford 2014; Welch and Karnig 1978).…”

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confidence: 99%

At‐Large Elections and Minority Representation in Local Government

Abott¹,

Magazinnik

2020

American J Political Sci

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Despite a long history of legal challenges alleging that elections conducted at‐large suppress minority representation, this remains the dominant electoral system in local governments throughout the United States. Moreover, a large empirical literature remains divided over the present‐day impact of at‐large elections on the political success of underrepresented groups. We reconcile the competing findings in this literature by providing contingent, causal estimates of the effect of conversion from at‐large to ward elections on minority officeholding, using a novel identification strategy afforded by the California Voting Rights Act of 2001. We find a dramatic positive effect of conversion in districts where Latinos constitute a sufficiently large share of the voting population, and in large and residentially segregated districts. When these conditions are not satisfied, we consistently see null estimated effects.

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“…However, the argument against MMDs has several shortcomings. First, it downplays the historical role of gerrymandering, literacy tests, and the other institutions and processes designed to thwart the election of racial and ethnic minorities in MMDs and SMDs (Hasen 2004;Winburn 2008;Meier and Rutherford 2014). Second, it does not fully consider the effects of the concentration of African American voters in urban areas (Moncrief and Thompson 1992;Trounstine and Valdini 2008), and it underestimates the importance of majorityminority districts in facilitating minority candidacies in both SMDs and MMDs (Lenz and Pritchard 1991;Lublin 1997;Hadley, Grofman, and Arden 1998;Swers and Rouse 2011).…”

Section: Is District Magnitude An Impediment To the Election Of Africmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Electoral Arrangements on Minority Representation: District Magnitude and the Election of African American State Legislators

Herrnson

Rouse

2020

Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy

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Previous research shows that multimember districts (MMDs) disadvantage African American candidates. However, these studies focus on only a few aspects of the electoral process and they may be time bound. Using a new data set, we examine the impact of district magnitude (the number of candidates elected from a single constituency) on the emergence, nomination, and general election of African Americans to the state legislature. Using data from recent elections to the Maryland state legislature, we find no evidence that district magnitude dims the electoral prospects of African American candidates. Our findings suggest that biases attributed to MMDs may have resulted from laws, partisan practices, customs, and political attitudes. The implementation of the Voting Rights Act, broad societal changes, and strategic adjustments by black candidates and voters may have mitigated the effects of previous biases resulting in the election of more African Americans in MMDs and other districts.

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Partisanship, Structure, and Representation: The Puzzle of African American Education Politics

Cited by 23 publications

References 63 publications

Voter Competence with Cumulative Voting*

Voter Competence with Cumulative Voting*

At‐Large Elections and Minority Representation in Local Government

The Impact of Electoral Arrangements on Minority Representation: District Magnitude and the Election of African American State Legislators

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