Race, Ethnicity, and the Politics of City Redistricting

Minority-Opportunity Districts and the Election of Hispanics and Blacks to City Councils

By Joshua G. Behr

Subjects: Political Science, Hispanic Studies, African American Studies
Series: SUNY series in African American Studies
Paperback : 9780791459966, 170 pages, February 2004
Hardcover : 9780791459959, 170 pages, March 2004

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Table of contents

List of Tables and Figures

Acknowledgments

1. The City: Stepchild of Redistricting Controversies

2. Making the Connection: The Links among System Aptitude, Minority-Opportunity Districts, and the Election of Hispanics and Blacks

3. Players in the Politics of "Selling" Minority-Opportunity Districts: Self-Serving Incumbents, the Feds, and Organized Interests

4. The Design: Review of Hypothesized Relationships, Data Sources, and Measurement of Variables

5. The Adoption of Hispanic and Black Minority-Opportunity Districts: Model Testing and Findings

6. The Election of Hispanic and Black Descriptive Representatives: Model Testing and Findings

7. Conclusion: The Meaning of Meaningful Electoral Opportunity

Appendix A: Survey Design and Sample Questionnaires

Appendix B: Cities Surveyed

Appendix C: Cases Cited

Appendix D: Operational Definition of Region

Notes

Bibliography

Author Index

Subject Index

Nationwide study of the proposal and adoption of minority-opportunity districts at the local level.

Description

Why do cities with similar minority populations vary greatly in the adoption of minority-opportunity districts and, by extension, differ in the number of elected Hispanic and black representatives? Through in-depth research of the districting processes of more than 100 cities, Race, Ethnicity, and the Politics of City Redistricting provides the first nationwide study of minority-opportunity districts at the local level. Joshua G. Behr explores the motives of the players involved, including incumbent legislators, Department of Justice officials, and organized interests, while investigating the roles that segregation, federal oversight, litigation, partisan elections, and resource disparity, among others, play in the election of Hispanics and blacks. Behr's book documents—for both theorists and practitioners—the necessary conditions for enhancing minority-opportunity districts at the local level.

Joshua G. Behr is Professor of Political Science at Old Dominion University.