Congressional Representation of Black Interests: Recognizing the Importance of Stability

The relationship between black constituency size and congressional support for black interests has two important attributes: magnitude and stability. Although previous research has examined the first characteristic, scant attention has been directed at the second. This article examines the relationship between district racial composition and congressional voting patterns with a particular emphasis on the stability of support across different types of votes and different types of districts. We hypothesize that, among white Democrats, the influence of black constituency size will be less stable in the South, owing in part to this region’s more racially divided constituencies. Examining LCCR scores from the 101st through 103rd Congress, we find that this expectation is largely confirmed. We also find that, among Republicans, the impact of black constituency size is most stable—albeit negligible in size— in the South. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the relative merits of “influence districts” and “majority minority” districts

Say our name (and say it right)! Extending Walton et al. on the evolution of race in political science scholarship

To explore the evolution of political-science research on race, Walton et al., have done a systematic review of more than a century of publications appearing in the discipline’s oldest and most prestigious journals: Political Science Quarterly and the American Political Science Review , respectively. Walton and his colleagues uncover “dual traditions” of race scholarship: an “African American Politics” (AAP) paradigm emphasizing empowerment and Blacks’ cultural distinctiveness, and a “Race Relations Politics” (RRP) approach that focuses on Blacks’ socio-political status vis-à-vis Whites. Using computer-assisted text analyses, we introduce a measure of racial dialogue that is informed by theory and has suitable empirical properties. We replicate and extend Walton’s research by adding a third periodical (the Journal of Politics ) and demonstrating that, while race conversations are becoming more frequent over time, the dialogues taking place in mainstream journals typically fit Walton’s RRP (rather than AAP) tradition. Following our analyses, we offer guidelines for researchers seeking to apply our measure to alternative contexts

Congressional Representation of Black Interests: Recognizing the Importance of Stability

The relationship between black constituency size and congressional support for black interests has two important attributes: magnitude and stability. Although previous research has examined the first characteristic, scant attention has been directed at the second. This article examines the relationship between district racial composition and congressional voting patterns with a particular emphasis on the stability of support across different types of votes and different types of districts. We hypothesize that, among white Democrats, the influence of black constituency size will be less stable in the South, owing in part to this region’s more racially divided constituencies. Examining LCCR scores from the 101st through 103rd Congress, we find that this expectation is largely confirmed. We also find that, among Republicans, the impact of black constituency size is most stable—albeit negligible in size— in the South. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the relative merits of “influence districts” and “majority minority” districts