Charles M Lamb
Biographic Data
| ID | 956675 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Charles M Lamb |
| GIVEN NAMES | Charles M |
| FAMILY NAME | Lamb |
| SIGNATURE | LAMB C M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University at Buffalo, State University of New York |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6134-6409 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 37 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1978 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Jim Crow North and Fair Housing Enforcement
This article investigates how the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 (commonly referred to as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) has been enforced in northeastern states. Using data obtained from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Freedom of Information Act, it measures the extent to which the thirteen northeastern states—from Maine to Virginia—decided Fair Housing Act complaints in favor of Black and Lati…
The diffusion of American fair housing law and policy
Objective We investigate the contributions of state and local governments to the diffusion of American fair housing law and policy, focusing on the period from 1919 to 1968, prior to similar legal requirements and policies being approved at the federal level. Methods Relying on archival data obtained at two presidential libraries, our findings provide insights into diffusion's political effects. Results Myriad state and local laws, constituting b…
African American and Latino discrimination complaints
Objective Research has investigatedracial and ethnic discrimination in America without examining discrimination complaints or focusing on housing. To help fill this void, we explore volume and outcomes in Fair Housing Act complaints filed by African Americans and Latinos between 1989 and 2010 in order to compare enforcement by federal, state, and local civil rights agencies. Methods Relying on data obtained from the Department of Housing and Urba…
Presidential Rhetoric and Bureaucratic Enforcement
BILL CLINTON’S ENTIRE LIFE reflects a strong interest in civil rights. He learned the value of racial tolerance as a child in Arkansas, became a longtime supporter of civil rights policies to protect a wide variety of groups, and received solid political backing from racial minorities through the years.1 Understandably, then, Clinton is often portrayed as a leader on a number of civil rights issues during his two terms in the White House.2 As Ste…
Power Plus Persuasion
We examine the influence of various political actors on the substance and timing of presidential orders. Specifically, we analyze President John F. Kennedy's decision to issue E. O. 11063, which directed the federal bureaucracy to eliminate discrimination in the sale or lease of residential property overseen by the federal government. We show that this order did not result solely from Kennedy's policy preferences; rather, it was a product of pers…
Cooperative Federalism and Fair Housing Enforcement
Objective We investigate how three levels of government have enforced the Fair Housing Act as a cooperative federalism program. Methods Based on data obtained from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we test a multivariate fixed effects logistic regression model. Results First, the Fair Housing Act's substantial equivalency requirement and HUD's Fair Housing Assistance Program have enabled state and local civil rights agencies …
Fair Housing Enforcement in the South and Non‐South
Objective We compare outcomes in racial discrimination fair housing complaints processed by southern state and local civil rights agencies to those handled by state and local agencies outside the South and the federal agency, HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development). Methods Based on data obtained directly from HUD, we rely on a fixed effects logistic regression model with cluster‐correlated standard errors. Results First, southern local…
Administrative Law Judges in Fair Housing Enforcement
Objective This study investigates the effect of attitudes, case facts, and political control on the fair housing decisions made by administrative law judges ( ALJ s) at the D epartment of H ousing and U rban D evelopment ( HUD ). Methods Based on data obtained from HUD under a Freedom of Information Act request, we use P robit regression to model the outcomes of every housing discrimination case decided by the entire population of ALJ s between 1…
Do Presidents Control Bureaucracy? The Federal Housing Administration During the Truman-Eisenhower Era
Charles M. Lamb and Adam W. Nye show how the Federal Housing Administration continued to permit racial segregation in its mortgage insurance program for years after the Truman administration indicated that it must alter that policy. They argue that this case study once again illustrates that presidential control has its limits as bureaucracy successfully defied presidential preferences and continued on a policy trajectory opposed by the president
Federalism, Efficiency, and Civil Rights Enforcement
This article systematically compares the efficiency of federal, state, and local civil rights agencies in enforcing national fair housing policy over time, with special attention to the South. State and local agencies processed Fair Housing Act complaints more efficiently than the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), southern agencies outperformed HUD, and the probability that a racial discrimination complaint resulted in a fav…
Civil Rights, Federalism, and the Administrative Process
Some theorists argue that cooperative intergovernmental relations are critical to policy implementation in the United States. This assertion is explored in the context of fair housing enforcement by comparing favorable administrative outcomes in fair housing complaints at the federal, state, and local levels from 1989 to 2004. What conclusions can be drawn from this systematic comparison of intergovernmental enforcement in one policy area over an…
Presidents, Bureaucracy, and Housing Discrimination Policy
Housing segregation and discrimination remain contemporary American problems despite 40 years of policy initiatives aimed at combating them. Since strong presidential support and active bureaucratic enforcement of fair housing laws should reduce these problems, we investigate variation over time in presidential support for the Fair Housing Acts of 1968 and 1988 (Title VIII) and their enforcement. Our findings first indicate that President Nixon's…
Housing Segregation in Suburban America since 1960
This book examines national fair housing policy from 1960 through 2000 in the context of the American presidency and the country's segregated suburban housing market. It argues that a principal reason for suburban housing segregation lies in Richard Nixon's 1971 fair housing policy, which directed Federal agencies not to place pressure on suburbs to accept low-income housing. After exploring the role played by Lyndon Johnson in the initiation and…
Housing segregation in suburban America since 1960
Presidential Influence and Centralization
Political scientists have always been interested in presidential influence in American politics, but they have rarely explored the process of centralization as a mechanism for presidents to exert their influence. To date, Terry Moe has developed the best conceptual framework for understanding presidential influence in general and centralization in particular. We rely on and go beyond Moe's concept of centralization in a study of fair housing poli…
Taking the Local
This article explores how “New Federalism” under President Ronald W. Reagan manifested itself in the implementation of fair housing policy. We examine the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) and how it led to state and local civil rights agencies playing an increasingly vital role in implementing the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Relying on data provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we show that a significant numb…
Implementation of Civil Rights Policy
Supreme Court Activism and Restraint
Fair Game
Legal Foundations of Civil Rights and Pluralism in America
Central to the dynamics of American pluralism are legal protections provided for minorities. To a large degree these rights revolve around the concept of equal protection of the laws. Whether reflected in the Fourteenth Amendment or statutes, the principal question is, Under what conditions is it just or reasonable to afford different treatment to persons because of their race? Here this question is addressed in the context of the transformation …
The Brethren
A Vital National Seminar
Conceived in Liberty
Counsel for the United States
Equal Employment Opportunity and the Carter Administration
Responding to his 1976 campaign pledge, President Carter has reorganized the federal government's enforcement of equal employment opportunity(EEO) laws. He has done so by shifting some EEO responsibilities from the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Labor to create a “Super‐EEOC”. This article examines why President Carter chose the EEO reorganization that he did from the standpoint of advantages and disadvantages. Also presented are …
Implementation of Civil Rights Policy
Supreme Court Activism and Restraint
Administrative Law Judges in Fair Housing Enforcement
Objective This study investigates the effect of attitudes, case facts, and political control on the fair housing decisions made by administrative law judges ( ALJ s) at the D epartment of H ousing and U rban D evelopment ( HUD ). Methods Based on data obtained from HUD under a Freedom of Information Act request, we use P robit regression to model the outcomes of every housing discrimination case decided by the entire population of ALJ s between 1…
Presidents, Bureaucracy, and Housing Discrimination Policy
Housing segregation and discrimination remain contemporary American problems despite 40 years of policy initiatives aimed at combating them. Since strong presidential support and active bureaucratic enforcement of fair housing laws should reduce these problems, we investigate variation over time in presidential support for the Fair Housing Acts of 1968 and 1988 (Title VIII) and their enforcement. Our findings first indicate that President Nixon's…
Taking the Local
This article explores how “New Federalism” under President Ronald W. Reagan manifested itself in the implementation of fair housing policy. We examine the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) and how it led to state and local civil rights agencies playing an increasingly vital role in implementing the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Relying on data provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we show that a significant numb…
Federalism, Efficiency, and Civil Rights Enforcement
This article systematically compares the efficiency of federal, state, and local civil rights agencies in enforcing national fair housing policy over time, with special attention to the South. State and local agencies processed Fair Housing Act complaints more efficiently than the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), southern agencies outperformed HUD, and the probability that a racial discrimination complaint resulted in a fav…
Cooperative Federalism and Fair Housing Enforcement
Objective We investigate how three levels of government have enforced the Fair Housing Act as a cooperative federalism program. Methods Based on data obtained from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we test a multivariate fixed effects logistic regression model. Results First, the Fair Housing Act's substantial equivalency requirement and HUD's Fair Housing Assistance Program have enabled state and local civil rights agencies …
African American and Latino discrimination complaints
Objective Research has investigatedracial and ethnic discrimination in America without examining discrimination complaints or focusing on housing. To help fill this void, we explore volume and outcomes in Fair Housing Act complaints filed by African Americans and Latinos between 1989 and 2010 in order to compare enforcement by federal, state, and local civil rights agencies. Methods Relying on data obtained from the Department of Housing and Urba…
Fair Housing Enforcement in the South and Non‐South
Objective We compare outcomes in racial discrimination fair housing complaints processed by southern state and local civil rights agencies to those handled by state and local agencies outside the South and the federal agency, HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development). Methods Based on data obtained directly from HUD, we rely on a fixed effects logistic regression model with cluster‐correlated standard errors. Results First, southern local…
Do Presidents Control Bureaucracy? The Federal Housing Administration During the Truman-Eisenhower Era
Charles M. Lamb and Adam W. Nye show how the Federal Housing Administration continued to permit racial segregation in its mortgage insurance program for years after the Truman administration indicated that it must alter that policy. They argue that this case study once again illustrates that presidential control has its limits as bureaucracy successfully defied presidential preferences and continued on a policy trajectory opposed by the president
Presidential Influence and Centralization
Political scientists have always been interested in presidential influence in American politics, but they have rarely explored the process of centralization as a mechanism for presidents to exert their influence. To date, Terry Moe has developed the best conceptual framework for understanding presidential influence in general and centralization in particular. We rely on and go beyond Moe's concept of centralization in a study of fair housing poli…
Government by Judiciary
A Vital National Seminar
Conceived in Liberty
Counsel for the United States
Equal Employment Opportunity and the Carter Administration
Responding to his 1976 campaign pledge, President Carter has reorganized the federal government's enforcement of equal employment opportunity(EEO) laws. He has done so by shifting some EEO responsibilities from the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Labor to create a “Super‐EEOC”. This article examines why President Carter chose the EEO reorganization that he did from the standpoint of advantages and disadvantages. Also presented are …
The Brethren
Fair Game
Legal Foundations of Civil Rights and Pluralism in America
Central to the dynamics of American pluralism are legal protections provided for minorities. To a large degree these rights revolve around the concept of equal protection of the laws. Whether reflected in the Fourteenth Amendment or statutes, the principal question is, Under what conditions is it just or reasonable to afford different treatment to persons because of their race? Here this question is addressed in the context of the transformation …
Supreme Court Activism and Restraint
Implementation of Civil Rights Policy
Taking the Local
This article explores how “New Federalism” under President Ronald W. Reagan manifested itself in the implementation of fair housing policy. We examine the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) and how it led to state and local civil rights agencies playing an increasingly vital role in implementing the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Relying on data provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we show that a significant numb…
Presidential Influence and Centralization
Political scientists have always been interested in presidential influence in American politics, but they have rarely explored the process of centralization as a mechanism for presidents to exert their influence. To date, Terry Moe has developed the best conceptual framework for understanding presidential influence in general and centralization in particular. We rely on and go beyond Moe's concept of centralization in a study of fair housing poli…
Housing Segregation in Suburban America since 1960
This book examines national fair housing policy from 1960 through 2000 in the context of the American presidency and the country's segregated suburban housing market. It argues that a principal reason for suburban housing segregation lies in Richard Nixon's 1971 fair housing policy, which directed Federal agencies not to place pressure on suburbs to accept low-income housing. After exploring the role played by Lyndon Johnson in the initiation and…
Housing segregation in suburban America since 1960
Presidents, Bureaucracy, and Housing Discrimination Policy
Housing segregation and discrimination remain contemporary American problems despite 40 years of policy initiatives aimed at combating them. Since strong presidential support and active bureaucratic enforcement of fair housing laws should reduce these problems, we investigate variation over time in presidential support for the Fair Housing Acts of 1968 and 1988 (Title VIII) and their enforcement. Our findings first indicate that President Nixon's…
Federalism, Efficiency, and Civil Rights Enforcement
This article systematically compares the efficiency of federal, state, and local civil rights agencies in enforcing national fair housing policy over time, with special attention to the South. State and local agencies processed Fair Housing Act complaints more efficiently than the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), southern agencies outperformed HUD, and the probability that a racial discrimination complaint resulted in a fav…
Civil Rights, Federalism, and the Administrative Process
Some theorists argue that cooperative intergovernmental relations are critical to policy implementation in the United States. This assertion is explored in the context of fair housing enforcement by comparing favorable administrative outcomes in fair housing complaints at the federal, state, and local levels from 1989 to 2004. What conclusions can be drawn from this systematic comparison of intergovernmental enforcement in one policy area over an…
Do Presidents Control Bureaucracy? The Federal Housing Administration During the Truman-Eisenhower Era
Charles M. Lamb and Adam W. Nye show how the Federal Housing Administration continued to permit racial segregation in its mortgage insurance program for years after the Truman administration indicated that it must alter that policy. They argue that this case study once again illustrates that presidential control has its limits as bureaucracy successfully defied presidential preferences and continued on a policy trajectory opposed by the president
Administrative Law Judges in Fair Housing Enforcement
Objective This study investigates the effect of attitudes, case facts, and political control on the fair housing decisions made by administrative law judges ( ALJ s) at the D epartment of H ousing and U rban D evelopment ( HUD ). Methods Based on data obtained from HUD under a Freedom of Information Act request, we use P robit regression to model the outcomes of every housing discrimination case decided by the entire population of ALJ s between 1…
Fair Housing Enforcement in the South and Non‐South
Objective We compare outcomes in racial discrimination fair housing complaints processed by southern state and local civil rights agencies to those handled by state and local agencies outside the South and the federal agency, HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development). Methods Based on data obtained directly from HUD, we rely on a fixed effects logistic regression model with cluster‐correlated standard errors. Results First, southern local…
Cooperative Federalism and Fair Housing Enforcement
Objective We investigate how three levels of government have enforced the Fair Housing Act as a cooperative federalism program. Methods Based on data obtained from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we test a multivariate fixed effects logistic regression model. Results First, the Fair Housing Act's substantial equivalency requirement and HUD's Fair Housing Assistance Program have enabled state and local civil rights agencies …
Presidential Rhetoric and Bureaucratic Enforcement
BILL CLINTON’S ENTIRE LIFE reflects a strong interest in civil rights. He learned the value of racial tolerance as a child in Arkansas, became a longtime supporter of civil rights policies to protect a wide variety of groups, and received solid political backing from racial minorities through the years.1 Understandably, then, Clinton is often portrayed as a leader on a number of civil rights issues during his two terms in the White House.2 As Ste…
Power Plus Persuasion
We examine the influence of various political actors on the substance and timing of presidential orders. Specifically, we analyze President John F. Kennedy's decision to issue E. O. 11063, which directed the federal bureaucracy to eliminate discrimination in the sale or lease of residential property overseen by the federal government. We show that this order did not result solely from Kennedy's policy preferences; rather, it was a product of pers…
African American and Latino discrimination complaints
Objective Research has investigatedracial and ethnic discrimination in America without examining discrimination complaints or focusing on housing. To help fill this void, we explore volume and outcomes in Fair Housing Act complaints filed by African Americans and Latinos between 1989 and 2010 in order to compare enforcement by federal, state, and local civil rights agencies. Methods Relying on data obtained from the Department of Housing and Urba…
The diffusion of American fair housing law and policy
Objective We investigate the contributions of state and local governments to the diffusion of American fair housing law and policy, focusing on the period from 1919 to 1968, prior to similar legal requirements and policies being approved at the federal level. Methods Relying on archival data obtained at two presidential libraries, our findings provide insights into diffusion's political effects. Results Myriad state and local laws, constituting b…
Law (25 works) · Political science (25 works) · Law (14 works) · Politics (14 works) · Public Administration (12 works) · Economics (11 works) · Civil rights (10 works) · Public Administration (10 works) · Enforcement (9 works) · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies (9 works)