United States Electoral Systems: Their Impact on Women and Minorities

by Wilma Rule, Joseph F. Zimmerman

Overview

This is the only full-length study to examine how different electoral systems impact the election of women and minorities to public office in the United States. Rule and Zimmerman have brought together leading scholars to show how different systems affect local, state, and national elections. Important demographic changes, new opportunities, and formidable problems are underscored in analyses of the effects of, among many other things, cumulative voting, judicial election systems, multimember and single-member districts, and reapportionment.

This study is unusual in combining an overall analysis of electoral systems and case material with proposals for making government more representative, inclusive, and responsive. Criteria are provided for evaluating the equity of electoral systems. The election of women and minorities to Congress is reviewed carefully, and options for increasing this direct representation of minorities and women are considered. Case studies describe legislative elections in several states. In-depth studies deal with local elections, cumulative and limited voting systems, alternative judicial electoral systems, and proportional representation. Academics and professionals who study political parties and electoral systems, minority politics, and women's studies will find this work to be especially intriguing and important.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275942403
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/30/1992
Series:	Contributions in Political Science Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.55(d)
Lexile:	1530L (what's this?)

About the Author

WILMA RULE is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is secretary-treasurer of the Section on Representation and Electoral Systems of the American Political Science Association. Her major research interests are the legislative recruitment of Anglo and minority women and the effect that electoral systems have on their political opportunities. She has written at length on these subjects for scholarly jourbanals.

JOSEPH F. ZIMMERMAN is Professor of Political Science in the Graduate School of Public Affairs, State University of New York at Albany. He is a former chair of the Section on Representation and Electoral Systems of the American Political Science Association. His books include Federal Preemption: The Silent Revolution (1991), Participatory Democracy: Populism Revived (Praeger, 1986), and State-Local Relations: A Partnership Approach (1983).

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Fair Representation for Minorities and Women by Joseph F. Zimmerman
Sending Women and Minorities to Congress
Electing Minorities and Women to Congress by Georgia A. Persons
Preconditions for Black and Hispanic Congressional Success by Bernard Hoffman and Lisa Handley
Anglo and Minority Women's Underrepresentation in Congress: Is the Electoral System the Culprit? by Wilma Rule and Pippa Morris
Electing State Legislators and Judges
Multimember Legislative Districts: Minority and Anglo Women's and Men's Recruitment Opportunity by Wilma Rule
Barriers to Representing Women and Blacks in Pennsylvania: The Impacts of Demography, Culture, and Structure by Sandra A. Featherman
Florida: The Big Election Shakeup of 1982 by Anita Pritchard
Creative Multimember Redistricting and Representation of Women and Minorities in the Maryland Legislature by M. Margaret Conway
The Effect of the "Cutback" on Representation of Women and Minorities in the Illinois General Assembly by David H. Everson
Patterns of Legislative Opportunity in Arizona: Sex, Race and Ethnicity by Michele A. Saint-Germain
Alternative Judicial Election Systems: Solving the Minority Vote Dilution Problem by Richard B. Engstrom
Electing Local Leaders
Minority and Gender Representation in American County Legislatures: The Effect of Election Systems by Victor DeSantis and Tari Renner
The Impact of At-Large Elections on the Representation of Minority Women by Susan Welch and Rebekah Herrick
Electing Women to City Council: A Focus on Small Cities in Florida by Susan A. MacManus and Charles S. Bullock, III
Cumulative Voting and Limited Voting in Alabama by Edward Still
Proportional Representation on New York City Community School Boards by Leon Weaver and Judith Baum
Options for Increasing Representation for Minorities
Enhancing Representational Equity in Cities by Joseph F. Zimmerman
Electoral Barriers to Women by R. Darcy
Select Bibliography
Index