Southern Reaction To the Second Reconstruction

WATHILE it is clear that forces such as the Civil Rights Movement and the South's increasing industrialization and urbanization have had a profound effect on Southern politics, there is uncertainty about what will replace, or has replaced, the one-party, race-dominated politics described by Key.' Three models of the South's reaction to the Reconstruction2 have been proposed: convergence, realignment and dealignment.3 The convergence model states that the South will react to the Second Reconstruction by replacing its traditional style of politics with a two-party, competitive type of politics similar to that found elsewhere in the country. In this new Southern politics, political preferences will be more a matter of social status than of race. According to the convergence model, class issues will become more important, and race issues will become relatively less important in Southern politics. The realignment model states that party competition will increase in the South as a result of efforts on the part of the white electorate to maintain the pre-Second Reconstruction form of politics despite the challenges presented by the enfranchisement of a large number of black voters. White Southerners will maintain the pre-Second Reconstruction form of politics by uniformly shifting their party loyalties from the black-supported Democratic party to the Republican party. Thus, according to the realignment model, race will continue to be the dominant factor influencing political preferences in the region. The dealignment model also states that party competition will increase in the region. Additionally, the dealignment model, like the realignment model, states that (1) race will continue to be the dominant factor influencing political preferences in southern politics, and (2) white Southerners, in order to maintain the pre-Second Reconstruction form of politics, will abandon the pro-integrationist Democratic party. The dealignment model, however, does not hold that the Republican party will benefit from this shift in party loyalties. Instead, the dealignment model hypothesizes that white Southerners will become unattached to any party, and thus will constitute a floating bloc of voters available to whatever candidate best represents their interests.4

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