America's Uneven Democracy: Race, Turnout, and Representation in City Politics

Although there is a widespread belief that uneven voter turnout leads to biased outcomes in American democracy, existing empirical tests have found few effects. By offering a systematic account of how and where turnout matters in local politics, this book challenges much of what we know about turnout in America today. It demonstrates that low and uneven turnout, a factor at play in most American cities, leads to sub-optimal outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities. Low turnout results in losses in mayoral elections, less equitable racial and ethnic representation on city councils, and skewed spending policies. The importance of turnout confirms long held suspicions about the under-representation of minorities and raises normative concerns about local democracy. Fortunately, this book offers a solution. Analysis of local participation indicates that a small change to local election timing - a reform that is cost effective and relatively easy to enact- could dramatically expand local voter turnout.

Politics & Social Sciences

Hajnal, Zoltan L.

Social Sciences

Cambridge University Press

Although there is a widespread belief that uneven voter turnout leads to biased outcomes in American democracy, existing empirical tests have found few effects. By offering a systematic account of how and where turnout matters in local politics, this book challenges much of what we know about turnout in America today. It demonstrates that low and uneven turnout, a factor at play in most American cities, leads to sub-optimal outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities. Low turnout results in losses in mayoral elections, less equitable racial and ethnic representation on city councils, and skewed spending policies. The importance of turnout confirms long held suspicions about the under-representation of minorities and raises normative concerns about local democracy. Fortunately, this book offers a solution. Analysis of local participation indicates that a small change to local election timing - a reform that is cost effective and relatively easy to enact- could dramatically expand local voter turnout.

Changing White Attitudes toward Black Political Leadership

Despite the hopes of the civil rights movement, researchers have found that the election of African Americans to office has not greatly improved the well-being of the black community. By shifting the focus to the white community, this book shows that black representation can have a profound impact. Utilizing national public opinion surveys, data on voting patterns in large American cities, and in-depth studies of Los Angeles and Chicago, Zoltan Hajnal demonstrates that under most black mayors there is real, positive change in the white vote and in the racial attitudes of white residents. This change occurs because black incumbency provides concrete information that disproves the fears and expectations of many white residents. These findings not only highlight the importance of black representation; they also demonstrate the critical role that information can play in racial politics to the point where black representation can profoundly alter white views and white votes.

Despite the hopes of the civil rights movement, researchers have found that the election of African Americans to office has not greatly improved the well-being of the black community. By shifting the focus to the white community, this book shows that black representation can have a profound impact. Utilizing national public opinion surveys, data on voting patterns in large American cities, and in-depth studies of Los Angeles and Chicago, Zoltan Hajnal demonstrates that under most black mayors there is real, positive change in the white vote and in the racial attitudes of white residents. This change occurs because black incumbency provides concrete information that disproves the fears and expectations of many white residents. These findings not only highlight the importance of black representation; they also demonstrate the critical role that information can play in racial politics to the point where black representation can profoundly alter white views and white votes.

Anthropology

Why Americans Don't Join the Party: Race, Immigration, and the Failure (of Political Parties) to Engage the Electorate

Two trends are dramatically altering the American political landscape: growing immigration and the rising prominence of independent and nonpartisan voters. Examining partisan attachments across the four primary racial groups in the United States, this book offers the first sustained and systematic account of how race and immigration today influence the relationship that Americans have--or fail to have--with the Democratic and Republican parties. Zoltan Hajnal and Taeku Lee contend that partisanship is shaped by three factors--identity, ideology, and information--and they show that African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and whites respond to these factors in distinct ways. The book explores why so many Americans--in particular, Latinos and Asians--fail to develop ties to either major party, why African Americans feel locked into a particular party, and why some white Americans are shut out by ideologically polarized party competition. Through extensive analysis, the authors demonstrate that when the Democratic and Republican parties fail to raise political awareness, to engage deeply held political convictions, or to affirm primary group attachments, nonpartisanship becomes a rationally adaptive response. By developing a model of partisanship that explicitly considers America's new racial diversity and evolving nonpartisanship, this book provides the Democratic and Republican parties and other political stakeholders with the means and motivation to more fully engage the diverse range of Americans who remain outside the partisan fray.

Lee, Taeku

Princeton University Press

White Backlash provides an authoritative assessment of how immigration is reshaping the politics of the nation. Using an array of data and analysis, Marisa Abrajano and Zoltan Hajnal show that fears about immigration fundamentally influence white Americans' core political identities, policy preferences, and electoral choices, and that these concerns are at the heart of a large-scale defection of whites from the Democratic to the Republican Party.Abrajano and Hajnal demonstrate that this political backlash has disquieting implications for the future of race relations in America. White Americans' concerns about Latinos and immigration have led to support for policies that are less generous and more punitive and that conflict with the preferences of much of the immigrant population. America's growing racial and ethnic diversity is leading to a greater racial divide in politics. As whites move to the right of the political spectrum, racial and ethnic minorities generally support the left. Racial divisions in partisanship and voting, as the authors indicate, now outweigh divisions by class, age, gender, and other demographic measures.White Backlash raises critical questions and concerns about how political beliefs and future elections will change the fate of America's immigrants and minorities, and their relationship with the rest of the nation.

White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics

Abrajano, Marisa

Race and Inequality in American Politics: An Imperfect Union

Authored by three of the USA's most well-known scholars on American politics, this undergraduate textbook argues that racial considerations are today-and have always been since the nation's founding-central to understanding America's political system writ large. Drawing on decades of teaching experience and compelling original research, Hajnal, Hutchings, and Lee present an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of race's role in American democracy, spanning topics as wide-ranging as public opinion, voting behavior, media representation, criminal justice, social policy, and protest movements. The reader will examine the perspectives of multiple racial groups, learn how to bring empirical analysis to bear on deeply divided viewpoints, and debate solutions to the many problems of governance in an America that is polarized by party, riven by race, and divided by inequality. Chapters open with a vignette to introduce the core issues and conclude with discussion questions and annotated suggested readings. Full color photos, figures, and boxed features elaborate on and reinforce important themes. Instructor resources are available online.

Hutchings, Vincent L.

Politics & Government

Dangerously Divided: How Race and Class Shape Winning and Losing in American Politics

As America has become more racially diverse and economic inequality has increased, American politics has also become more clearly divided by race and less clearly divided by class. In this landmark book, Zoltan L. Hajnal draws on sweeping data to assess the political impact of the two most significant demographic trends of last fifty years. Examining federal and local elections over many decades, as well as policy, Hajnal shows that race more than class or any other demographic factor shapes not only how Americans vote but also who wins and who loses when the votes are counted and policies are enacted. America has become a racial democracy, with non-Whites and especially African Americans regularly on the losing side. A close look at trends over time shows that these divisions are worsening, yet also reveals that electing Democrats to office can make democracy more even and ultimately reduce inequality in well-being.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hajnal, Zoltan L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hajnal, Zoltan L.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hajnal, Zoltan L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

America's Uneven Democracy: Race, Turnout, and Representation in City Politics

America's Uneven Democracy: Race, Turnout, and Representation in City Politics

Changing White Attitudes toward Black Political Leadership

Changing White Attitudes toward Black Political Leadership

Why Americans Don't Join the Party: Race, Immigration, and the Failure (of Political Parties) to Engage the Electorate

White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics

Race and Inequality in American Politics: An Imperfect Union

Dangerously Divided: How Race and Class Shape Winning and Losing in American Politics

Dangerously Divided: How Race and Class Shape Winning and Losing in American Politics

Race and Inequality in American Politics: An Imperfect Union