Sisters In The Statehouse

"Theories of descriptive representation that keep identity constant over time and context fail to account for the substantive work of minority women legislators. Sisters in the Statehouse addresses this gap in the literature by utilizing humanistic inquiry to examine the connection between descriptive and substantive representation in the case of Black women legislators. This link hinges on how such legislators see the effects of their own race-gender identity on their legislative work. By combining humanistic and social science techniques, such as feminist life histories, elite interviews, and participant observation in conjunction with legislative case studies as well as bill sponsorship data, I present a fuller description of how identity informs Black women state legislators' descriptive and substantive representation. Linking personal narratives to political behavior, my study elicits the feminist life histories of African American women legislators to understand how their experiences with racism and sexism have influenced their legislative decision-making and policy preferences. I reveal several distinctions that inform the legislative work of these legislators to provide a broader perspective that exemplifies how an intersectional approach can enhance our understanding of political representation"--

Afro-textured hair and the CROWN Act -- What black women political elites look like matters -- Candid conversations, black women political elites, & appearances -- Sisterly discussions on black women candidates -- Is there a black woman candidate prototype? -- Voter responses to black women candidates -- Linked fate, black voters, and black women candidates -- Conclusion.

Broadening the Contours in the Study of Black Politics, volume 17 of the National Political Science Review (NPSR), is divided thematically into two books, available separately or as a set. The first concentrates on the institutional aspects of Black politics. The second book addresses various dimensions of social capital that constitute the fundamental building blocks of Black politics. Each contains peer-reviewed articles, a symposium section, and book reviews, as well as other featured sections.Together, these books build on the previous NPSR volume, Black Women in Politics. The symposium in Volume 17:1 examines the struggle of Black women, both in the political science discipline and in getting their work published. In the symposium section of Volume 17:2, members of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists carry on a revealing conversation about the dilemmas of professional life for Black women in political science.The set also contains a section called "Trends," which offers data to use as starting points for discussions in teaching, on professional panels, or in the mass media, regarding the new versions of the Voting Rights Act after the Shelby County v. Holder decision of 2013. Both volumes 17:1 and 17:2 contain rigorously vetted articles on significant themes in the study of Black politics. This set represents the most recent offering in the distinguished National Political Science Review series.

"They don't think I'm viable, because I'm a Black woman with natural hair and no husband." This comment was made by Stacey Abrams shortly before the 2018 Democratic primary after she became the first Black woman to win a majory party's nomination for governor. Abrams' sentiment reflects the wider environment for Black women in politics, in which racist and sexist cultural ideas have long led Black women to be demeaned and fetishized for their physical appearance. In Sister Style, Nadia E. Brown and Danielle Casarez Lemi argue that Black women's political experience and the way that voters evaluate them is shaped overtly by their skin tone and hair texture, with hair being a particular point of scrutiny. They ask what the politics of appearance for Black women mean for Black women politicians and Black voters, and how expectations about self-presentation differ for Black women versus Black men, White men, and White women. Black women running for office face pressure, often from campaign consultants and even close colleagues, to change their style in order to look more like White women. However, as this book shows, Black women candidates and elected officials react differently to these pressures depending on factors like age and incumbency. Moreover, Brown and Lemi delve into the ways in which Black voters react to Black female candidates based on appearance. They base their argument, in part, on focus groups with Black women candidates and elected officials, and show that there are generational differences that determine what sorts of styles Black women choose to adopt and to what extent they change their physical appearance based on external expectations.

Often considered Congress's "Odd Couple," these warm and witty stories from Congresswomen Linda and Loretta Sánchez are perfect for all young women looking to create a brighter future for themselves—with a foreword from Nancy Pelosi! By sharing moments from their childhood in Southern California, Linda and Loretta pass on the values and traditions they learned from their parents—immigrants from Mexico who, despite not having graduated high school themselves, made sure all seven of their children went on to graduate from college—that enabled them to conquer challenges and make history in Congress. Speaking frankly about their professional highs and lows, successes, and the scandals that constituted their distinguished careers, the Sánchez sisters are a testament to us all that the key to realizing your dreams is, above all else, always being true to yourself.

This book explores the often-overlooked positive role of public housing in facilitating social movements and activism. Taking a political, social, and spatial perspective, the author offers Atlanta as a case study. Akira Drake Rodriguez shows that the decline in support for public housing, often touted as a positive (neoliberal) development, has negative consequences for social justice and nascent activism, especially among Black women. Urban revitalization policies target public housing residents by demolishing public housing towers and dispersing poor (Black) residents into new, deconcentrated spaces in the city via housing choice vouchers and other housing-based tools of economic and urban development. Diverging Space for Deviants establishes alternative functions for public housing developments that would necessitate their existence in any city. In addition to providing affordable housing for low-income residents—a necessity as wealth inequality in cities increases—public housing developments function as a necessary political space in the city, one of the last remaining frontiers for citizens to engage in inclusive political activity and make claims on the changing face of the state.

political science is for everybody is the first intersectionality-mainstreamed textbook written for introductory political science courses. While political science and politics are for everybody, political institutions are neither neutral nor unbiased. When we write political science textbooks that obscure the differences in how groups experience and interact with political institutions, we do students a disservice. This book exposes students to these differences while also bringing marginalized voices to the fore, allowing more students to see their lived experiences reflected in the pages of their textbook. Bringing together a diverse group of contributors, political science is for everybody teaches all the basics of political science while showing that representation matters – both in politics and in the classroom.

Why has the underrepresentation of women and racial minorities in elected office proved so persistent? Many researchers have asserted that the main shortfall happens at the candidacy stage--women and people of color are competitive candidates, but too few throw their hat into the ring. However, these studies are animated by two assumptions that tend to speak past each other. On the one hand, gender and politics scholars often suggest that women lack sufficient ambition to run for office relative to men. On the other hand, race and politics scholars have suggested that districts with majority white populations do not provide adequate resources or opportunities for minority candidates to succeed. These approaches tend to treat women and racial minorities as parallel social groups, and fail to account for the ways in which race and gender simultaneously shape candidacy. Nowhere to Run introduces the intersectional model of electoral opportunity, which argues that descriptive representation in elections is shaped by intersecting processes related to race and gender. Across states, realistic opportunities for potential candidates of color to get on state legislative ballots are sharply circumscribed by the distribution of white majority populations in most districts; and within the districts that are most widely viewed as winnable seats--majority minority districts--the perceived scarcity of viable electoral opportunities exacerbates factors that tend to push women of color farther from the candidate pipeline. These overlapping constraints result in an electoral landscape where women of color face constraints on electoral opportunity that are intersecting and multilayered. Drawing on an original dataset encompassing nearly every state legislative general election from 1996-2015, as well as interviews and surveys with candidates, donors, and other political elites from 42 states, Nowhere to Run tests this theory with a first of its kind study of Asian American and Latina/o candidacies, and the first simultaneous look at the relationship between changing populations and descriptive representation for African American, Asian American, Latina/o, and white women and men. The book sheds new light on how multiple dimensions of identity simultaneously shape pathways to candidacy and representation for all groups seeking a seat at the table in American politics.