Voter Mobilization and the Rise of Black Political Power

Abstract

During 1970-2000, U.S. cities underwent a rapid increase in black political representation. Many argue that African-Americans’ responsiveness to registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns facilitated this transition. This paper develops a simple model of group-based electoral competition when one group has a greater capacity to mobilize voters to the polls. Mayoral election results are consistent with the model in the South, where African-Americans historically faced political exclusion, but not in the North. In Southern cities, close black victories were more likely than close black losses, involved higher turnout than close black losses, and were more likely to be followed by subsequent black victories.