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The Effect of Black Congressional Representation on Political Participation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2002

Claudine Gay
Claudine Gay*
Affiliation:
Stanford University
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Abstract

The election of African Americans to Congress is a primary achievement of the post– civil rights transition from protest to politics. I evaluate the link between black congressional representation and political engagement, as measured by voting participation. There are two related objectives: Construct a broader model of participation that takes into account a key component of the political environment since the civil rights era, and more fully appreciate the political significance of minority officeholding by considering its nonpolicy consequences. Using precinct data from eight midterm elections, I demonstrate that the election of blacks to Congress negatively affects white political involvement and only rarely increases political engagement among African Americans.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 95 , Issue 3 , September 2001 , pp. 589 - 602
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2001

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