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- Title
The Impact of the Voting Rights Act On Black Representation In Southern State Legislatures.
- Authors
Grofman, Bernard; Handley, Lisa
- Abstract
In the period from 1965 to 1985 there was a dramatic increase in the proportion of black legislators elected in southern states. This did not result from a larger numbers of blacks being elected in white-dominated districts but rather from an increase in the number of districts with a majority of black population and an increase in the proportion of such districts that actually elected a black to the legislature. More specifically, it is the districts that are at least 60% black that are most likely to elect a black legislator. The increase in the proportion of districts having a black majority is largely the result of enforcement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which led to greater use of single-member districts and the elimination of districting that diluted the black vote.
- Subjects
SOUTHERN States; UNITED States; SUFFRAGE; POLITICAL activity of African Americans; LEGISLATIVE bodies; REPRESENTATIVE government; SOUTHERN States politics &; government; AFRICAN American legislators; PROPORTIONAL representation
- Publication
Legislative Studies Quarterly, 1991, Vol 16, Issue 1, p111
- ISSN
0362-9805
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/439970