First to the Party: The Group Origins of the Partisan Realignment on Civil Rights

Abstract

For much of the 20th century, African Americans found themselves without adequate representation in American politics, with disastrous consequences for them. This paper traces how the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) managed to transform the Democratic Party on civil rights and gain representation for African Americans. After years of mistrust, the NAACP and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) established a working relationship during World War II. The CIO incorporated civil rights into its political agenda and used its influence in the Democratic Party to marginalize opponents of civil rights. The NAACP and the CIO were motivated by their organizational needs, which were shaped in turn by the political and economic environment of the 1940s. Politicians, left to their own devices, would have augmented their party base without unsettling existing factions. This case has strong lessons for other unpopular groups hoping to obtain effective representation for their views. Interest groups were first to the party: they initiated the change, formed alliances, and challenged reluctant politicians, thereby forcing the parties to take positions they would have preferred to straddle.