Description
In this study assessing black civic participation after the civil rights movement, Fredrick C. Harris, Valeria Sinclair-Chapman and Brian D. McKenzie demonstrate that the changes in black activism since the civil rights movement is characterized by a tug-of-war between black political power on one side and economic conditions in black communities on the other. As blacks gain greater access and influence within the political system, black participation in political activities increases while downward turns in the economic conditions of black communities produce less civic involvement in black communities. Examining changes in black activism from the early 1970s to the 1990s, this tug-of-war demonstrates that the quest for black political empowerment and the realities of economic and social life act as countervailing forces, in which negative economic and social conditions in black communities weaken the capacity of blacks to organize so that their political voices can be heard.
Chapter
economic fortunes and black civic activism
group theory of democracy
measuring black civic activism
trends in black political empowerment
the presidency and black civic activism
jackson presidential campaigns
education as a resource for political empowerment
trends in economic and social distress
black income inequality and black activism
black unemployment and participation
inflation and black civic activism
immigration, economic competition, and black civic activism
criminal victimization and black civic activism
3 Studying Group Activism
theory, evidence, and inferences in the study of black participation
from individual to collective properties
beyond methodological individualism and
time-bound analyses
a theory of collective participation, not collective preferences
the statistical logic of macro-level participation
determinants of aggregate political behavior in past studies
macro forces and participation
expectations of our macro model of black participation
trends in aggregate levels of black civic participation
4 Echoes of Black Civic Activism
historical dynamics in the study of race and american politics
reconstruction, post-reconstruction, and black
civic participation
black civic life in the interwar years
world war ii, the cold war, and black civic life
macro forces in the post–civil rights era
a note on estimating time
demographic trends in black civic activism
measures of black political empowerment
black elected officials at all levels of government
jackson’s presidential candidacies
changes in black college enrollment
measures of social and economic distress
Changes in Inequality Within the Black Population
Yearly Rates of Black Unemployment
Changes in the Inflation Rate
Yearly Rate of Immigration
Criminal Victimization Among Blacks
estimating the effects of empowerment and distress
countervailing effects across modes of participation
social class and black civic activism
countervailing forces across demographic groups
understanding the dynamics of
african-american activism
the complexities of empowerment and activism
implications for the study of participation in america
countervailing forces and new barriers to black civic life
Appendix A: Question Wording and Coding
Political Activity Series
Composite Participation Index
Appendix B: Variable Sources and Descriptions
Appendix C: Time Series Models
Countervailing Forces in African-American Civic Activism, 1973–1994
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