Conclusion

This book has focused on African American state legislators through the lens of descriptive representation. Throughout the book, descriptive representation has been referred to as gaining voice, a multilayered metaphor that refers to the act of blacks voting, which is critical for whether black elected officials reach office. Once enough blacks gain voice, they choose to create caucuses to best advocate for shared interests. Gaining voice also refers to blacks making their political preferences known and, in some instances, actually having their interests represented in public policy. Once African Americans gain voice, they become more involved politically; and this informs how they think about electoral reforms governing access to voting. In this concluding chapter of the book, key themes and important findings are revisited. The implications of the book are considered, as well as how the book contributes to studies of state politics and black politics. Future studies informed by the book are also discussed.

Descriptive Representation and Black Public Opinion Toward Electoral Reforms

Given the difficulties blacks experience exercising their right to vote, it seems that African Americans would uniformly support laws that make it easier for people to vote (progressive electoral reforms), while uniformly opposing laws that make it more difficult for people to vote (prohibitive electoral reforms). Arguing against this logic and building on studies of winning and losing in politics, the chapter posits that descriptive representation in the state legislature should liberalize black public opinion toward electoral reforms governing access to the franchise, using 2008 Cooperative Congressional Election Study data to find partial support. An increased black seat share in the legislature is associated with blacks being less supportive of requiring that voters read from the US Constitution and requiring voters to show photo ID. Further, an increased black seat share is related to blacks being more supportive of automatic voter registration and election-day registration. The black representation ratio was unimportant for understanding whether blacks supported electoral reforms.

Descriptive Representation and Black Political Involvement

A healthy representative democracy requires that citizens be politically involved, and it is especially important to consider the political involvement of groups that are marginalized, such as African Americans. Building on the political empowerment hypothesis, the chapter argues that an increased black seat share and black representation ratio should be associated with increased black political involvement. Using 2008 Cooperative Congressional Election Study data, the chapter describes how in states with an increased black seat share in the legislature blacks are more likely to be highly interested in politics and are more likely to vote. In states with a higher black representation ratio, blacks are more inclined to persuade others to vote. Black representation in the US House does not increase black political involvement, despite being the focus of many scholarly works of political empowerment.

A Multifaceted Approach to the Study of Black Descriptive Representation

This chapter motivates the book’s importance, talking specifically about the relevance of a multifaceted approach to the study of black state legislators in the 21st century. The descriptive representation framework used to study black representation is mentioned. The two-part organization of the book is explained, with the first portion considering the causes of black descriptive representation and the latter portion examining the consequences of black descriptive representation. Moreover, the underlying research questions motivating the book, namely whether black people alone explain the black presence in the state legislature and whether the positive consequences of black representation in the state legislature outweigh the negative ones, are discussed. Synopses of the various theoretical claims are provided. The chapter discusses relevant extant literature on minority representation, identity caucuses, policy representation, political involvement, public opinion, and state politics. The data and methods employed in the book are discussed, and the chapter ends with an overview of each book chapter.

The Creation of State Legislative Black Caucuses

Black legislative caucuses allow blacks to leverage their strength in numbers and best advocate for shared interests. This chapter examines the conditions under which 32 state legislative black caucuses emerged, from 1966 to 1986. It also provides the first systematic analysis of the emergence of state legislative black caucuses, and it presents a new theory of black caucus emergence by combining two existing explanations of why these entities form. The findings show that legislative black caucuses are more likely to form than not when around 17 blacks serve in office. However, there is more to the emergence of black caucuses than black presence. Democratic seat share and the number of standing committees in states also influence the emergence of black caucuses.

Black Seat Share and Policy Representation in States

A common expectation is that when blacks serve in elected office black policy interests will be better represented. This chapter examines how black seat share affects education and welfare policy in states, from 2001 to 2011. The expectation is that states with a greater black seat share will spend more money on education and will have more liberal welfare policy. It shows that while black seat share increases per-pupil public education spending, it is associated with less liberal welfare policy. In fact, the finding for welfare policy emerges in states with Democratic control of the legislature and provides evidence of backlash in response to an increased black seat share. Citizen ideology and region are two other key predictors of education and welfare policy in states.

Explaining Black Descriptive Representation in State Legislatures

Diversity in representative bodies is important to political scientists, with many focusing on the presence of African Americans in legislatures. This chapter examines black seat share and the black representation ratio in state legislatures, from 1992 to 2010. The findings show that while the relationship between black population and the black seat share is linear, the black population in a state has a non-linear relationship with the black representation ratio. This provides partial support for the expectation that because of racial threat, the relationship between black population and black descriptive representation is non-linear. Moreover, there is more to explaining black descriptive representation than the presence of African Americans. Legislative professionalism, the partisan attachments of voters, and the Latino population in the state are other important predictors of black descriptive representation in state legislatures.