The Underrepresentation of Blacks on City Councils: Comparing the Structural and Socioeconomic Explanations for South/Non-South Differences

Engstrom, Richard L.; McDonald, Michael D.

doi:10.2307/2130675

Cited by 46 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Finally, regional location is considered. The relevance of this factor is well developed in Black and Hispanic studies (e.g., Engstrom & McDonald, 1982;Karnig & McClain, 1985). Previous studies suggest that Blacks have fared less well socially and politically in the South, whereas Hispanics have consolidated their presence and politics in the Southwestern region.…”

Section: Other Independent Variablesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Segregation and Black and Hispanic Group Outcomes

Alozie

1999

American Politics Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This research uses Black and Hispanic employment on large-city police forces to explore the relative efficacy of two competing hypotheses on the potential effect of residential segregation on minority-group outcomes. The latent-need hypothesis postulates that Blacks and Hispanics would fare better in more segregated communities because Black and Hispanic personnel are needed to police “their” own neighborhoods. Alternatively, the discrimination hypothesis contends that, ceteris paribus, the extent of residential segregation is an indicator of community-level intolerance and expects that more segregated communities would present Blacks and Hispanics with fewer opportunities in policing. The analysis indicates that the discrimination imperative is germane for Blacks. However, residential segregation is of no significant consequence for Hispanics.

show abstract

Section: Other Independent Variablesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Segregation and Black and Hispanic Group Outcomes

Alozie

1999

American Politics Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The bulk of this research has, however, focused on the relationship between districting and racial and ethnic minority representation (Engstrom and McDonald 1982;Welch 1990). Nevertheless, there are reasons to suspect that the method of election to council could also affect turnout (Bullock 1990).…”

Section: Are Institutional Arrangements Linked To Voter Participation?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Municipal Institutions and Voter Turnout in Local Elections

Hajnal

Lewis

2003

Urban Affairs Review

223

135

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although low voter turnout in national elections has garnered considerable attention and concern, much lower turnout in municipal elections has often been largely ignored. Using a survey of cities in California, this article examines a series of institutional remedies to low turnout in mayoral and city council elections. Moving local elections to coincide with the dates of national elections would have by far the largest impact on voter turnout, but other institutional changes that tend to raise the stakes of local elections also increase turnout. Specifically, less outsourcing of city services, the use of direct democracy, and more control in the hands of elected rather than appointed officials all tend to increase turnout.Observers of American politics have repeatedly expressed concern about low voter participation in federal elections (Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995;Lijphart 1997;Bennett and Resnick 1990). The fact that almost half of all eligible voters do not vote in presidential elections has been cited repeatedly as evidence of an ongoing crisis in American democracy. Declining voter participation over time in these national elections has also been highlighted by a host of scholars who have raised questions about the health of American politics (Rosenstone and Hansen 1993;Teixeira 1992).Yet for all of the attention garnered by national elections, turnout in these elections is comparatively high. Nowhere is the turnout problem worse than at the local level. Although few studies have looked comprehensively at municipal-level turnout in recent decades, the existing evidence suggests that 645

show abstract

“…If this explanation is accurate, a troubling paradox may exist for BEST. Scholars have repeatedly demonstrated that the at-large format impedes the election of black candidates (Engstrom and McDonald 1982;Jones 1976;Taebel 1978). However, the data reported here raise the possibility that the most commonly used vehicle for achieving BEST's goal of placing black lawmakers in office-the creation of majority-black wards-may diminish black influence and could increase the likelihood of discrimination inside city councils.…”

Section: Black Influence Discrimination Missing Datamentioning

confidence: 99%