THE INFLUENCE OF BLACKS IN STATE AND LOCAL FAIR HOUSING POLICY‐MAKING

Abstract

The influence of black officials and organizations on public policy varies among political settings. Factors responsible for this variation include the relatively limited political resources still available to blacks, the size of the black population in a location, the representation of blacks in elective office, the control of political gate keepers, and prevailing ideology. The ability of blacks to influence fair housing policy is further predicated upon the level of government addressed. Black individuals and organizations were in‐ strumental in gaining agenda status for the passage of federal fair housing legislation in the 1960s. Experiences in Cleveland and Ohio reveal a less prominent role for blacks in state and local fair housing policy. Two major factors peculiar to this topic, inattention of traditional civil rights groups and diminished public support for civil rights policies, combine with repre‐ sentational issues to require a broader coalition for support of these policies. The lead in advocacy has been assumed by black/liberal white coalitions that promote managed residential integration contrary to the preferences of black‐dominated interests that prefer equality of housing opportunity regardless of racial impact. The latter group, lacking the politi‐ cal resources of the former, usually reacts to policy rather than initiating policy. Black elected officials, who play a pivotal role in responding to the demand‐protests of their constituents, may be hampered or helped by the political resources available in state and local settings. The theory of politi‐ cal incorporation helps to explain the incremental gains of blacks as com‐ pared to long‐term policy responsiveness in state and local policy‐making.