Editors’ Introduction

Abstract

Thematically this issue centers representation and responsiveness of state entities. The three articles featured offer distinctive methodological approaches to understanding community and representation throughout the diaspora. Our first article “From Complexity to Clarity: A Network Approach to Better Understanding Issues on a Black- Interest Agenda” by Periloux Peay and John Rackey seeks to uncover trends that members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) use to discuss, define, and prioritize issues on their agenda and if they approach these issues as interconnected, multidimensional, and complex. As you read the article please appreciate the detailed social network analysis incorporated to examine the context and effort of CBC members to communicate and identify issues of relevance to the Black community and into an institutional agenda.Our next article by Caroline Hossein moves us through the diaspora to the Caribbean. In “The Legacy of Cooperatives among the African Diaspora: The Cases of Haiti and Grenada”, Hossein explores financial cooperatives in both Haiti and Grenada by using interviews with bankers and individuals to gain deeper insight into the role these institutions play in the lives of citizens. These institutions are significant to our understanding of politics throughout the diaspora because persons who interact with these economic institutions counter similar exclusions that people of African descent in the United States face such as limited access to savings, affordable credit and access to business loans due to limited collateral. Hossein’s research helps us to understand fully that these economic alternatives are based in grassroots community solutions to meet needs that are influenced by politicized economic policy decisions.Our final research article by Rasel Madaha “A study of Local Government in Africa through Participatory Action Research (PAR)” focuses on Tanzania. The Tanzanian government has established new local governments to increase efficiency in the provision of services. By using a case study model, Madaha seeks to understand how the presence of a well-established ruling regime at the local and central government levels tends to ignore the needs of marginalized people in Tanzania. The author’s methodology allows for interview participants to not only inform the researcher of their experiences but to also allow for participants to clearly identify problems for further research exploration. By employing this type of qualitative method Madaha is able to articulate in detail the marginalization of women and the complexity of providing opportunities in agricultural communities.We applaud the outstanding research the authors present in this issue. The articles presented exhibit our mission to explore the international links of African Americans and the diasporic community. We hope that you will continue to see the National Review of Black Politics as a home for your dynamic scholarship.