Beyond the Boundaries: A New Structure of Ambition in African American Politics (National Political Science Review Series)

In the past, African American aspirations for political offi ce were assumed to be limited to areas with sizeable black population bases. By and large, black candidates have rarely been successful in statewide or national elections. This has been attributed to several factors: limited resources available to African American candidates, or identifi cation with a black liberationist ideological thrust. Other factors have been a relatively small and spatially concentrated primary support base of black voters, and the persistent resistance of many white voters to support black candidates. For these reasons, the possibility of black candidates winning elections to national offi ce was presumably just a dream. Conventional wisdom conceded a virtual cap on both the possible number of black elected officials and the level of elective offi ce to which they could ascend. But objective political analysis has not always made sufficient allowances for the more universal phenomenon of individual political ambitions. Th e contributors to this volume explore the ways ambitious individuals identifi ed and seized upon strategies that are expanding the boundaries of African American electoral politics. This volume is anchored by a symposium that focuses on new possibiities in African American politics. Both the electoral contests of 2006 and the Barack Obama presidential campaign represent an emergent dynamic in American electoral politics. Analysts are beginning to agree that the contours of social change now make the electoral successes of black candidates who are perceived as ideologically and culturally mainstream increasingly likely. The debate captured in this volume will likely inspire further scholarly inquiry into the changing nature and dimensions of the larger dynamic of race in American politics and the subsequent changing political fortunes of African American candidates. Beyond The Boundaries : A New Structure Of Ambition In African American Politics / Robert C. Smith -- Making History, Again, So Soon? : The Massachusetts Gubernatorial Election / Angela K. Lewis -- Running On Race And Against Convention : Michael Steele, Kweisi Mfume, And Maryland's 2006 Senate Contest / Tyson D. King-meadows -- Three Wrongs And Too Far Right : The Wrong Candidate, The Wrong Year, And The Wrong State : J. Kenneth Blackwell's Run For Ohio Governor / Wendy G. Smooth -- Southern Racial Etiquette And The 2006 Tennessee Senate Race : The Racialization Of Harold Ford's Deracialized Campaign / Richard T. Middleton And Sekou M. Franklin -- Racial Threat, Republicanism And The Rebel Flag : Trent Lott And The 2006 Mississippi Senate Race / Byron D'andra Orey -- Statewide Races In Maryland : Unusual Beginnings Of A New Era In Electoral Politics? / Walter W. Hill -- Electoral Cycles In Racial Polarization And The 2006 Senate Elections / Richard Forgette And Marvin King --^ The Early Electoral Contests Of Senator Barack Obama : A Longitudinal Analysis / Hanes Walton And Robert C. Starks -- The Third Wave : Assessing The Post-civil Rights Cohort Of Black Elected Leadership / Andra Gillespie -- Black Identity : What Does It Mean For Black Leaders? / Jas M. Sullivan -- Learning To Participate : The Effects Of Civic Education On Racial Ethnic Minorities / Melissa Comber -- The Literature On Senator Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign / Hanes Walton, Josephine A.v. Allen, Sherman C. Puckett, Donald R. Deskins, And Leslie Burl Mclemore -- A Radical Critique Of The Reparations Movement / Carter A. Wilson -- Creating A Transnational Network Of Black Representation In The Americas : A Profile Of The Legislators At The First Meeting Of Black Parliamentarians In Latin America / Michael Mitchell, Minion K.c. Morrison, And Ollie Johnson --^ Introductory Political Science Textbooks : Are They Inclusive Of African American Politics? / Sherri L. Wallace And Dewey M. Clayton -- African American Politics In Third Parties And Urban Affairs : A Review Essay / Hanes Walton. Georgia A. Persons, Editor. A Publication Of The National Conference Of Black Political Scientists. Papers From A Symposium. Includes Bibliographical References.