Political Parties, Minorities and Elected Office
Author: Miki Caul Kittilson
Publisher:
Published: 2004
Total Pages: 48
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPosts
The Politics of Democratic Inclusion
Author: Christina Wolbrecht
Publisher: Temple University Press
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 360
ISBN-13: 9781592133604
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHow institutions foster and hinder political participation of the underrepresented
Uneasy Alliances
Author: Paul Frymer
Publisher:
Published: 1999
Total Pages: 214
ISBN-13: 9780691004648
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPaul Frymer argues provocatively that two-party competition in the United States leads to the marginalization of African Americans and the subversion of democracy. Scholars have long claimed that the need to win elections makes candidates, parties, and government responsive to any and all voters. Frymer shows, however, that party competition is centered around racially conservative white voters, and that this focus on white voters has dire consequences for African Americans. As both parties try to attract white swing voters by distancing themselves from blacks, black voters are often ignored and left with unappealing alternatives. African Americans are thus the leading example of a "captured minority." Frymer argues that our two-party system bears much of the blame for this state of affairs. Often overlooked in current discussions of racial politics, the party system represents a genuine form of institutional racism. Frymer shows that this is no accident, for the party system was set up in part to keep African American concerns off the political agenda. Today, the party system continues to restrict the political opportunities of African American voters, as was shown most recently when Bill Clinton took pains to distance himself from African Americans in order to capture conservative votes and win the presidency. Frymer compares the position of black voters with other social groups--gays and lesbians and the Christian right, for example--who have recently found themselves similarly "captured." Rigorously argued and researched, Uneasy Alliances is a powerful challenge to how we think about the relationship between black voters, political parties, and American democracy.
Electoral Systems and the Protection and Participation of Minorities
Author: Andrew Reynolds
Publisher: Computer Science Press, Incorporated
Published: 2006
Total Pages: 38
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIncludes statistical tables.
Minorities and Representation in American Politics
Author: Rebekah Herrick
Publisher: CQ Press
Published: 2016-01-29
Total Pages: 559
ISBN-13: 1483386848
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMinorities and Representation in American Politics is the first book of its kind to examine underrepresented minorities with a framework based on four types of representation—descriptive, formalistic, symbolic, and substantive. Through this lens, author Rebekah Herrick looks at race, ethnic, gender, and sexual minorities not in isolation but synthesized within every chapter. This enables readers to better recognize both the similarities and differences of groups’ underrepresentation. Herrick also applies her unique and constructive approach to intergroup cooperation and intersectionality, highlighting the impact that groups can have on one another.
Steadfast Democrats
Author: Ismail K. White
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2020-02-25
Total Pages: 248
ISBN-13: 0691199515
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"Over the last half century, there has been a marked increase in ideological conservatism among African Americans, with nearly 50% of black Americans describing themselves as conservative in the 2000s, as compared to 10% in the 1970s. Support for redistributive initiatives has likewise declined. And yet, even as black Americans shift rightward on ideological and issue positions, Democratic Party identification has stayed remarkable steady, holding at 80% to 90%. It is this puzzle that White and Laird look to address in this new book: Why has ideological change failed to push black Americans into the Republican party? Most explanations for homogeneity have focused on individual dispositions, including ideology and group identity. White and Laird acknowledge that these are important, but point out that such explanations fail to account for continued political unity even in the face of individual ideological change and of individual incentives to defect from this common group behavior. The authors offer instead, or in addition, a behavioral explanation, arguing that black Americans maintain political unity through the establishment and enforcement of well-defined group expectations of black political behavior through a process they term racialized social constraint. The authors explain how black political norms came about, and what these norms are, then show (with the help of survey data and lab-in-field experiments) how such norms are enforced, and where this enforcement happens (through a focus on black institutions). They conclude by exploring the implications of the theory for electoral strategy, as well as explaining how this framework can be used to understand other voter communities"--
The Loud Minority
Author: Daniel Q. Gillion
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2020-03-10
Total Pages: 222
ISBN-13: 0691181772
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"Voters now see protests as ideological- i.e., belonging to the Democrat or Republican Party. Consequently, as protest grows in America, it pushes more voters to turnout to the polls, donate to political campaigns, and run for office-benefiting the political party that is perceived to be the most supportive of the protestors' message. Thus, protests are the canaries in the coal mines that warn of future political and electoral changes. This is how protest shapes our democracy"--
Responsible Parties
Author: Frances Rosenbluth
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2018-10-02
Total Pages: 335
ISBN-13: 0300241054
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHow popular democracy has paradoxically eroded trust in political systems worldwide, and how to restore confidence in democratic politics In recent decades, democracies across the world have adopted measures to increase popular involvement in political decisions. Parties have turned to primaries and local caucuses to select candidates; ballot initiatives and referenda allow citizens to enact laws directly; many places now use proportional representation, encouraging smaller, more specific parties rather than two dominant ones.Yet voters keep getting angrier.There is a steady erosion of trust in politicians, parties, and democratic institutions, culminating most recently in major populist victories in the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. Frances Rosenbluth and Ian Shapiro argue that devolving power to the grass roots is part of the problem. Efforts to decentralize political decision-making have made governments and especially political parties less effective and less able to address constituents’ long-term interests. They argue that to restore confidence in governance, we must restructure our political systems to restore power to the core institution of representative democracy: the political party.
American Political Parties and Elections
Author: Louis Sandy Maisel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2016
Total Pages: 202
ISBN-13: 019045816X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFew Americans and even fewer citizens of other nations understand the electoral process in the United States. Still fewer understand the role played by political parties in the electoral process or the ironies within the system. Participation in elections in the United States is much lower than in the vast majority of mature democracies. Perhaps this is because of the lack of competition in a country where only two parties have a true chance of winning, despite the fact that a large number of citizens claim allegiance to neither and think badly of both. Or perhaps it is because in the U.S. campaign contributions disproportionately favor incumbents in most legislative elections, or that largely unregulated groups such as the now notorious 527s have as much impact on the outcome of a campaign as do the parties or the candidates' campaign organizations. These factors offer a very clear picture of the problems that underlay our much trumpeted electoral system. The second edition of this Very Short Introduction introduces the reader to these issues and more. Drawing on updated data and new examples from the 2016 presidential nominations, L. Sandy Maisel provides an insider's view of how the system actually works while shining a light on some of its flaws. He also illustrates the growing impact of campaigning through social media, the changes in campaign financing wrought by the Supreme Court recent decisions, and the Tea Party's influence on the sub-presidential nominating process. As the United States enter what is sure to be yet another highly contested election year, it is more important than ever that Americans take the time to learn the system that puts so many in power.
It Takes a Candidate
Author: Jennifer L. Lawless
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2005-09-12
Total Pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9780521857451
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIt Takes a Candidate serves as the first systematic, nationwide empirical account of the manner in which gender affects political ambition. Based on data from the Citizen Political Ambition Study, a national survey conducted on almost 3,800 'potential candidates', we find that women, even in the highest tiers of professional accomplishment, are substantially less likely than men to demonstrate ambition to seek elected office. Women are less likely than men to be recruited to run for office. They are less likely than men to think they are 'qualified' to run for office. And they are less likely than men to express a willingness to run for office in the future. This gender gap in political ambition persists across generations. Despite cultural evolution and society's changing attitudes toward women in politics, running for public office remains a much less attractive and feasible endeavor for women than men.
