The Transformation of Southern Politics: Social Change and Political Consequence Since 1945

by Jack Bass, Walter De Vries

Stressing the relevance of The Transformation of Southern Politics as a background for understanding the South into the next century, Jack Bass and Walter De Vries write that the "themes of change in southern politics still involve the rise of the Republican Party, black political development and the Democratic response to it―and the interaction of these forces with social and economic issues." The Transformation of Southern Politics examines the post-World War II political evolution of the eleven southern states and traces the effects of such influences as Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, urban migration, the growth of the Republican Party, and the rise of African Americans in the political landscape.

Relying on the methodology that V. O. Key used in his 1949 classic Southern Politics in State and Nation , the work draws on interviews with more than 360 politicians, scholars, journalists, and labor leaders, and includes a wealth of data on voting trends, political perceptions, and population flow to present a comprehensive portrait of the region up to the 1976 presidential election. In the preface to the Brown Thrasher edition, Bass and De Vries offer an overview of the region's current political climate, including an analysis of the 1994 mid-term elections. They also provide excerpts from their interview with Bill Clinton during his first campaign for political office.

Genres: History, Politics

552 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very informative and loaded narrative about Southern States politics. The author discussed the 11 former Confederate States of America (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia). Big picture changes discussed included Brown v Board of Education (declaring separate but equal unconstitutional), the LBJ administration and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Act of 1965, urban migration, growth of the Republican Party (Dixiecrats and Senator Strom Thurmond, Barry Goldwater campaign of 1964 and Richard Nixon's popularity).

The author also discussed the various factors unique to each state to include topics of racism, populism (concepts of The People and emphasis on States' rights), the rise of black African-American politics, Republicans and Democrats, two-party politics, Liberals and Conservatives, labor and socioeconomics, voting demographic and profile, and more subtopics. The author explained the backstory and Antebellum history of each state, the aftermath of the Civil War, and heavy emphasis on the political landscape from 1945 through 1975.

Briefly mentioned was the factual events of 1964 that was made into the 1988 film Mississippi Burning starring Gene Hackman and Willem Defoe.

The "Freedom Summer" of 1964 attracted hundreds of northern white college students to Mississippi, where they joined black students and lived with black families and worked for voter registration in an atmosphere of tension. Three civil rights workers, two of them northern whites and one a Mississippi black youth, were slain by Ku Klux Klansmen and buried in an earthen dam in Neshoba County. It was a crime that involved local law enforcement officers and shocked the country. pg 204

This was very readable and loaded with information. Though published in 1975, this was the reprinted Brown Thrasher Edition printed in 1995. It has an updated preface that briefly mentioned Bill Clinton, New Gingrich, and politics of the 1990s. I would recommend this to anyone interested in South politics as a whole. Thanks!

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly, this is one of the few books from college that I was smart enough to keep. I wish I had better foresight. Neat book broken down by State about how politics in the South has changed and changed America.