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The Attitudinal Dimension of Black Political Incorporation in Local Government

Bibliographic Data

ID6232425
AuthorsMelissa Marschall (0000-0003-2871-7305, Rice University), Melissa J Marschall, Anirudh V S Ruhil (0000-0001-7363-4061, Ohio University)
Year2007
Volume51
Issue1
Pages17-33
Publication date2007-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00234.x
OpenAlexW2160901108
LanguageEN
Citations received49
References cited60

Traditional studies of minority incorporation focus on the redistribution of public resources that purportedly follows black gains in representation. The present study departs from this approach by focusing on the attitudinal effects of black leadership. Two research questions guide this study: To what extent do blacks' assessments of neighborhood services and conditions stem from black representation in local executive and legislative offices? Are these attitudinal effects rooted in policy and service delivery outcomes? Employing survey data from 3,000 blacks embedded in 52 cities and 53 school districts, this study reveals that blacks report higher levels of satisfaction with their neighborhood conditions, police services, and public schools when represented by blacks in city hall and on school boards and that these evaluations are most positive when improvements in local services are conspicuous. Overall, these findings extend conventional conceptualizations of substantive benefits and challenge more pessimistic accounts regarding the effects of black representation in local politics

Dimension (graph theory · Legislature · Local government · Pessimism · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Redistribution (election · Representation (politics · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Mathematics · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

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Unique citing works49
Citations per year2,58
Citation span2007 - 2026 (20)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 49
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