The Geography of Racially Polarized Voting: Calibrating Surveys at the District Level

Voting in the United States has long been known to divide sharply along racial lines, and the degree of racially polarized voting evidently varies across regions, and even within a state. Researchers have further studied variation in racially polarized voting using aggregate data techniques, but these methods assume that variation in individual preferences is not related to geography. This paper presents estimates based on individual level data of the extent and variation in racially polarized voting across US Congressional Districts. Leveraging large, geocoded sample surveys, we develop an improved method for measuring racial voting patterns at the Congressional District-level. The method overcomes challenges in previous attempts of survey modeling by allowing survey data to inform the synthetic population model. This method has sufficient power to provide precise estimates of racial polarization even when survey data are sparse. We find that variation across districts but within states explains roughly 20 percent of the total variation; states explain a further 20 percent of the total variation, and 55 percent of the variation is simply national differences between races. The Deep South still has the highest racial polarization between White and Black voters, but some Midwestern congressional districts exhibit comparably high polarization. The polarization between White and Hispanic voters is far more variable than between Black and White voters.

Introduction: “Be Bold”: The Legacy of John R. Lewis

This essay introduces the roundtable, “John R. Lewis's Legacies in Law and Religion.” A civil rights icon and long-standing US congressman representing Georgia's Fifth Congressional District, Lewis was often described as the moral conscience of the US Congress and the nation. The essays in this roundtable explore the many facets of Lewis's moral leadership, with particular attention to his influence on law and religion. This roundtable is a testament to what it means to speak up, speak out, and be bold in defense of justice.

ATTRIBUTIONS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NATIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION FOR SCHOOL HEADS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

There is a very limited number of studies on why majority of school heads who took the National Qualifying Examination for School Heads (NQESH) failed, thus the necessity to conduct this study. It explored the factors that influenced the ratings of NQESH through exploratory sequential mixed methods involving 102 school heads in the 1st Congressional District of Zamboanga Sibugay. The qualitative data gathered from 10 respondents through face-to-face interview and focus group discussion arrived at the factors that affected NQESH performance, namely: luck, ability, strong desire, physical state, task difficulty, emotional state, mental state, and effort. The quantitative data gathered from 92 respondents through a researcher-made survey instrument were subjected to Pearson Coefficient of Correlation, t-test and stepwise regression. It is concluded that the internal locus of control factors such as ability, effort, physical state, and NCBS-SH domains along with the external locus of control factors such as luck, and task difficulty, wield a significant influence in the NQESH performance. Educational attainment, level of management training attended, and marital status were also differentiating factors in NQESH performance. Based on the regression analyses results, NCBS-SH, management training, ability, and task difficulty are good predictors of NQESH performance. NCBS-SH competencies can improve and enhance school management ability. Dynamic professional development and more developed critical and analytical skills are definitely needed to pass the NQESH.

Classroom Performance and Ancillary Functions Among Secondary School Teachers in the Third District of Bohol

Classroom performance is measured through classroom observation, both announced and unannounced. Ancillary functions are additional responsibilities other than the mandated teaching load mandated by the department manual. The study looked into classroom performance and ancillary functions among secondary school teachers in the 3rd district of Bohol. It also determined if a correlation exists between the two variables. It utilized the descriptive-normative method with a survey tool to gather data from administrators, coordinators, and faculty among selected secondary public and private schools in the 3rd congressional district, Bohol. Overall, there was a 440-sample size from a 505 population with a 1.68 margin of error at a 95 percent confidence interval. It used frequencies, percentages, weighted mean, and nonparametric statistical treatment utilizing Spearman Rho, Fisher’s Exact Test, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient, and Paired Sample Test. Freidman Test of Difference. Findings revealed that the overall performance in announced observation was “Outstanding” while unannounced observations were rated “Satisfactory.” Results revealed that teachers were partially involved in ancillary functions. A significant correlation was found between each of the nine indicators of classroom performance and the level of ancillary functions. Hence, when the given indicators of classroom performance are leveled up, the teachers are more likely to be engaged in ancillary functions. Teacher respondents in private schools obtained higher ratings in unannounced classroom observations.

Politicians “Stay Home”

This paper analyses the intimate space of politicians at home during lockdown through their personal Instagram accounts, using both live stories (which I have been saving daily), the pictures and videos they post and the accompanying text. In order to do so, it will focus on two young female politicians who have become iconic for left-wing movements around the world. They are Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona (Spain), and Alessandria Ocasio-Cortez, representative for New York’s 14th congressional district (USA). As previous political outsiders who are deeply involved in activism and belong to what some will call a left-wing populist wave, AOC and Colau interact with their followers in “an authentic way”, often posting very intimate and apparently uncurated images of their daily life. The goal of the paper is to examine how they construct authenticity and connect with their constituencies during the COVID-19 lockdown through a qualitative visual rhetorical analysis.

The 2017 Runoff in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District

Georgia requires a majority vote to win a special election. Had a candidate in the April jungle primary polled a majority, that would have sufficed. But no candidate won outright, so the top two finishers, Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel, advanced to a runoff held nine weeks later. Chapter 3 details each campaign’s activities and the substantial sums of money infused into the contest, making it the most expensive House race in the United States. Yet, in the end even with the initial electoral vote and fundraising advantages to Ossoff, significant voter turnout, and what many believed a divided and disgruntled GOP, the contest became largely a standard partisan face-off.

The Special Election Primary in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District

Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District special election seemed the potential harbinger of change to the U.S. House and a referendum on the Trump presidency. Chapter 2 examines the first stage, a jungle primary election held in April 2017, where eighteen candidates competed. Much of what took place in the first round of this special election process to select Representative Tom Price’s replacement resulted from a miscalculation by Republicans. Viable GOP candidates expected that they were competing not for one but two opportunities to advance to the runoff. Soon the contest revealed a divided electorate, coalescing support to one Democrat and splitting the remaining votes among the field of Republicans. The campaign strategies and appeals made by the five leading candidates, four Republicans and one Democrat, and the response they received by the voters are examined.

American Indians and the Right to Vote: United States v. Elm (1877), Its Origins, and Its Impact

In November 1876, two Oneida Indians, Abram Elm and Lewis Doxtator, were arrested for voting illegally in the twenty-third congressional district election in New York. Their trial was held the next year in a federal court in the Northern District of New York, the same venue where Susan B. Anthony had been tried and convicted on a similar charge four years earlier. This essay focuses on the significance of the historically neglected United States v. Elm case, its origins, why the decision was rendered, and its short-term and long-term impact. Importantly, United States v. Elm has cast a long shadow over Supreme Court decisions—from the time of Elk v. Wilkins in 1884 right up to City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation in New York in 2005. In going to the polls, the two Native Americans were not trying to deny their Oneida identity; they saw themselves as dual citizens advocating a different course of resistance.