Devolution and Black State Legislators: Challenges and Choices in the Twenty-first Century

by Tyson King-Meadows, Thomas F. Schaller

Devolution and Black State Legislators examines whether black state legislators can produce qualitative gains in the substantive representation of black interests. Once a battle cry by southern conservatives, "new federalism" has shifted power from Washington to the respective state governments and, ironically, has done so as black state legislators grow in number. Tyson King-Meadows and Thomas F. Schaller look at the debates surrounding black political incorporation, the tradeoffs between substantive and descriptive representation, racial redistricting, and the impact of black legislators on state budgetary politics. They situate contemporary constraints on black state elites as the union of macro- and micro-level forces, which allows for a reconsideration of how the idiosyncrasies of political, economic, and geographic culture converge with the internal dynamics of state legislative processes to produce particular environments. Interviews with black legislators provide valuable insights into how such idiosyncrasies may deprive institutional advancement—committee assignments, chairmanships, and party leadership positions—of the influence it once afforded.

Hardcover

First published July 1, 2006

About the author

Visiting Assistant Professor, Political Science UMBC

Tyson King-Meadows is an expert on African American political behavior, examining such issues as attitudes on politics and rates of political participation among African Americans and rates of success for African American politicians in passing policy and running for office. King-Meadows earned his B.A. from North Carolina Central University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.