North Carolina General Assembly Research Articles

Zeb Vance: North Carolina's Civil War Governor and Gilded Age Political Leader (review)

Reviewed by: Zeb Vance: North Carolina’s Civil War Governor and Gilded Age Political Leader Ansley Herring Wegner Zeb Vance: North Carolina’s Civil War Governor and Gilded Age Political Leader. By Gordon B. McKinney. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004. Pp. 496. Cloth $45.00.) Gordon McKinney, once a history professor at Western Carolina University and now director of the Appalachian Center at Berea College, was co-editor of the microfilm edition of the papers of Zebulon Vance and author of the guide to those papers, issued in 1987. In that capacity he came to know one of North Carolina's favorite sons. In the preface to Zeb Vance: North Carolina's Civil War Governor and Gilded Age Political Leader, McKinney establishes the place of his own work within the previous scholarship on Vance. Having the advantage of additional resources and innovative analytical tools, McKinney examines Vance's military and political careers more astutely than previous biographers. He scrutinized a variety of Vance's speeches and letters, placing them in the context of the contemporary social and political atmosphere, with exceptional effect. Interested in politics at a young age, Zebulon Baird Vance in his time was known as a superior public speaker. While he read law and became a licensed [End Page 328] attorney, Vance's skills and interest lay in the political arena. McKinney adeptly demonstrates Vance's attraction to politics and explicates his early political maneuvers. Vance first entered public service at the age of twenty-four, in 1854, serving a term in the lower house of the North Carolina General Assembly. He went to Washington in 1858 to fill the congressional seat vacated by Thomas L. Clingman and was reelected for the 1859–60 term. Although an outspoken Unionist prior to the firing on Fort Sumter, Vance subsequently led his company of "Rough and Ready Guards" into the Confederate Army. In writing about Vance's military service, McKinney effectively depicts the relationship between Vance and his lieutenant colonel Henry K. Burgwyn Jr. while conveying a clear sense of Vance's military skills and deficiencies. Colonel Vance was as outspoken in uniform as he was on the political stump. McKinney gives Vance credit for remaining in uniform while campaigning for governor. Vance did resign his military commission when he was elected governor of North Carolina in 1862, a position he would hold until the demise of the Confederacy. Vance's service as governor has been studied exhaustively by historians, but McKinney's approach of using speeches and correspondence to convey his political dexterity is refreshing, and the analysis is thought-provoking. Given that Vance was in his own time—as well as today—known for his flair for public speaking, the attention to this aspect of his career is merited. McKinney effectively uses statistical analysis of voting patterns in studying Vance's political endeavors, shedding light on the environment in which the politician was working. Vance was again elected governor of North Carolina in 1876, but he served only two years before being elected to the United States Senate. He remained in the Senate until his death in 1894. McKinney gives ample attention to Vance's post–Civil War life and public service, again using speeches and firsthand accounts to his advantage. McKinney marks the gubernatorial success of 1876 as a turning point in Vance's career and in the public memory of him (323). The chapter "Monuments and the Man" (406–15) is a fitting conclusion to the biography of such a celebrated individual. McKinney draws on the Confederate memorial movement and conveys the lionization of the man whose likeness was selected to represent North Carolina in the statuary hall at the nation's Capitol. Worth noting is the somewhat garbled Civil War story of a mountain man who goes home on leave only to return with his wife "Matilda," disguised as a man (84). Records indicate that Keith Blaylock and his wife Malinda enlisted on the same day. Even McKinney's book, The Heart of Confederate Appalachia (2000), co-authored with John Inscoe, properly identifies her as Malinda (189–90). The selection of illustrations is somewhat unimaginative, reproducing only the standard portraits and...

Numbers of Minority Health Professionals:

This overview has pointed to a continuing racial and ethnic imbalance in the health professions that applies to North Carolina as well as the nation. Great strides have been made early in the development of programs to enhance racial and ethnic representation, but they have generally reached a plateau in terms of growth and progress. Resistance to affirmative action programs and subsequent uncertainty over their legal standing can be cited as one factor thwarting progress, but that issue has been resolved and schools, professions, and the North Carolina General Assembly can move forward with a clear understanding of how to proceed. A full generation has matured with the benefit of positive emphasis on increasing the proportion of minorities in the health professions. The coming generations must build and expand on the programs and initiatives that brought the nation and the state to where we are now. But these goals must be re-stated, and intensified efforts are required if any reasonable parity in representation of minorities among the health professions is to be achieved.

The Color of Their Skin or the Content of Their Behavior? Race and Perceptions of African American Legislators

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that, because of their race, African American candidates for public office are often evaluated less favorably than their colleagues by voters. Does this dynamic continue when black candidates become elected officials? Using data on the North Carolina General Assembly, I address this question by examining the effects of race on perceptions of legislative effectiveness. When the dependent variable is the average effectiveness rating given by three groups—lobbyists, journalists, and other legislators—there is evidence that African American representatives are evaluated negatively because of their race. When the dependent variable is disaggregated into the separate effectiveness ratings given by each of the respondent groups individually, these negative perceptions of blacks on account of race remain on the part of lobbyists and other legislators, but not for journalists. Moreover, the negative perceptions of black representatives are not mitigated by these representatives possessing certain characteristics (e.g., seniority and leadership positions) that previous studies have found to be correlated with positive effectiveness evaluations. The presence of an African American Speaker in one legislative session did, however, seem to attenuate the negative perceptions.

The North Carolina Center for Nursing: A Pioneering State Nurse Workforce Policy Initiative

This article describes the creation and implementation of the North Carolina Center for Nursing, including the center’s enabling legislation. The Center for Nursing was a pioneering effort of the North Carolina General Assembly in 1991, requiring a long-range vision of nurse workforce planning as opposed to the “quick fixes” of the past. The Center for Nursing is a visible commitment to the critical nature of nursing resources and fulfills its mission by (a) providing objective information to health care providers, policy makers, and other stakeholders through a well-developed research agenda; (b) developing a strategic planning mechanism for nursing resources in North Carolina through the North Carolina Nurse Workforce Planning Model; and (c) promoting long-range mechanisms for recruitment and retention. The North Carolina Center for Nursing is serving as a model for stakeholders in other states interested in a permanent infrastructure for addressing nurse workforce issues.

Even at the Turning of the Tide

The increase in the number of African Americans in elective and appointed offices is often cited as lasting evidence of the success of the 1960s civil rights movement. However, two generations after the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the question of whether electoral power transfers into substantive change for the powerless reverberates. Some may find it sacrilegious to question the utility of the franchise in light of the past sacrifices to gain unfettered access to the ballot. Nevertheless, not to raise this critical question at this juncture commits a disservice to past African American martyrs. Thus, this analysis seeks to critically examine African American legislative participation in the North Carolina general assembly. The following analysis builds on prior research that examined the activities of the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus (NCLBC) from 1970 to 1985 (Sullivan, 1988). Between 1985 and 1988, several major developments occurred within the North Carolina legislature that warrant further inquiry. First, the number of African Americans serving in the state legislature increased significantly. Second, the state has struggled through several years of divided government. Further exacerbating this division in government has been the Republican Party control of the House of Representatives. The following examines the NCLBC in light of these developments. The analysis proceeds with a discussion of African American legislative participation prior to the post-civil rights period. A pro-

Introduction

ESSAY The Culture ofSouthern Politics Introduction Ferrel Guillory he elections of 1992, 1994, and 1996 have given commentators plenty of evidence to assert that American politics has been thoroughly "southernized." President Clinton is from Arkansas, Vice President Gore from Tennessee, House Speaker Newt Gingrich from Georgia, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott from Mississippi, and House Majority Leader Dick Armey from Texas. What's more, so this line of reasoning goes, the nation focuses on themes—race and religion , crime and family values, tax-cutting and budget-balancing—all of which have deep roots in the conservative soil of the South. But, whoever suggests that the political southernization of America has come to pass must also reckon with what has come to pass in southern politics. Long gone are the days of one-party, whites-only, out-of-the-mainstream politics. When he signed the Voting Rights Act three decades ago, LyndonJohnson knew that he was setting in motion a transformation of the region's politics. To look at the South close-up is to see a politics that is anything but one dimensional . The rule of rural Democratic barons has been broken as population and jobs have shifted from the countryside to the city and suburb. Blacks walk into voting booths and hold elective offices from which they were once barred. Republicans out-number Democrats among southern governors, senators, and representatives. The reality these days is that the South produces a diverse set of officeholders, and that it is possible to be both genuinely southern and genuinely different in style and ideology. These days, the South is capable of producing a Bill Clinton and a Newt Gingrich , aJohn Breaux and a Strom Thurmond, a Zell Miller and a Kirk Fordice, a Cynthia McKinney and a Sue Myrick, and, finally, a David Price and a Tom DeLay . It is important to understand the currents and cross-currents behind politics in the South, because the region, once so out of sync, now often serves as a leading indicator ofnational trends and as a wellspring ofnational power. The authors of the essays assembled in this special section of Southern Cultures cast trained, experienced eyes across the South's political landscape, seeking not 16 Voters line up on an election day in North Carolina. Courtesy ofthe News <& ObserverPublishing Co., Raleigh, North Carolina. to perpetuate myths but to illuminate reality. These essays are not filled with southern political war stories of the good ol'—or bad ol'—days. Rather, the collection aims to explainwhy the South's politics remains so richly fascinating, even ifdevoid ofthe old-time demagogues that so defined the region. The collection opens with a pair of essays, offering first a Republican, then a Democratic perspective on the modern two-party South. Whit Ayres, a leading GOP pollster, and his colleague Jon McHenry foresee a consolidation, even extension , ofRepublican gains. Mac McCorkle, a Democratic policy analyst, recognizes the Democrats' dilemmas, while suggesting a strategic vision for the party. Cole Blease Graham Jr., a South Carolina political scientist, traces how his state has moved from the grip ofDemocrats to the equally tight grip ofRepublicans —and how South Carolina Republicans have positioned their presidential primary as a virtual nominee-maker. My essay, which follows Graham's, looks at the paradox that has been at the core ofNorth Carolina politics for a quarter of a century—that the same electorate of a southern state has elected Jim Hunt, a moderate, pro-schools Democrat, governor for four terms, and Jesse Helms, a far-right Republican ideologue, U.S. senator for five terms. Natalie Davis and Thad Beyle provide fresh insights into politics and moneyin the South. Davis, who teachers political science and has polled her state for years, as well as run for office, tells a cautionary tale, warning that the intense interestThe Culture ofSouthern Politics ?? group competition afflicting Alabama could spread beyond its state lines. Beyle traces the trends in spending on gubernatorial campaigns and explains why some campaigns cost more than others. As elsewhere in the nation, women have made gains in southern politics, but Sue Tolleson-Rinehart argues that the South still lags behind in electing women to office. The collection closes with a short, yet thoughtful, reflection on race and politics by State Representative Dan Blue ofRaleigh, the first black speaker ofthe North Carolina General Assembly. A recurring dilemma for students ofthe South is determining which states are southern. We resolved the dilemma by letting authors do it their way. Beyle adds up campaign financing in fourteen states. Ayres and McHenry analyze thirteen states, while McCorkle and Tolleson-Rinehart deal with the eleven states of the Old Confederacy. Agrantfrom the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to the University ofNorth Carolina-ChapelHillProgram on Southern Polines, Media andPublic Ufe helped make this collection ofessayspossible. I 8 FERREL OUlLLORY ...

Recent History of Sentencing Reform in North Carolina

During the past summer, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted a system of structured sentencing and a State-County Criminal Justice Partnership Act. These new laws were based on recommendations developed by the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission and are similar to sentencing guideline systems and commu nity corrections acts in other states. The new laws will apply to crimes committed on or after January 1,1995.

Policy Entrepreneurs, Policy Opportunists, and Legislative Effectiveness

Although there is a growing literature on policy entrepreneurs and policy enactment, there has been little systematic examination of legislative policy entrepreneurs and the effect of policy entrepreneurship on a legislator's standing. This article identifies policy entrepreneurs in each of three sessions of the North Carolina General Assembly and examines the effect of policy entrepreneurship on legislators' effectiveness as perceived by peers and close observers. It also defines and identifies a second category —policy opportunists — legislators who have not exhibited expertise and persistence necessary for policy entrepreneurship but who are associated with salient issues whose "policy window" has opened. Both policy entrepreneurs and policy opportunists benefit from increases in their standing, but policy entrepreneurs benefit more than their opportunistic peers. The importance of the issue cycle is illustrated in the changing cast of legislative policy entrepreneurs and policy opportunists over the three sessions.

Efficacy of Mandatory Seat-Belt Use Legislation

The North Carolina General Assembly approved a law effective in October 1985 that mandated seat-belt use by front-seat occupants of passenger vehicles. In January 1987, a $25 fine for infractions of this law went into effect. This study examined numbers of car occupants with severe and fatal injuries in crashes in North Carolina, controlling for the amount of vehicle damage as a measure of crash severity. After the law, significant decreasing trends were seen in the percentages of front-seat occupants who had severe or fatal injuries in crashes, although the involvement of alcohol in crashes was still associated with an increased risk of such injury. Projections indicate that a reduction of approximately 1100 severe or fatal injuries per year can be attributed to the seat-belt law in North Carolina. This study supports the hypothesis that the societal burden of crash-associated injury can be reduced by mandating seat-belt use.

THE POLITICS OF LEGISLATIVE CURTAILMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE RULEMAKING: OBSTACLES TO POLICE‐PATROL OVERSIGHT

State Administrative Procedure Acts (APAs), like their federal counterpart, attempt to even the odds that citizens’rights will be protected as administrative agencies exercise quasi‐legislative and quasi‐judicial functions. North Carolina is one of several states which has recently attempted to constrain agency power in rulemaking and complaint adjudication. This is a case study of policy outcomes attained by the North Carolina General Assembly in its 1985 revision of the state's APA. Why did some state legislators’efforts to assume stricter oversight over administrative rulemaking fall far short of the kind of control and accountability they aimed for? We explore three types of obstacles to APA reform encountered in North Carolina. Each is relevant to other states. First, direct surveillance or “police‐patrol” techniques of legislative oversight impose undesirable political costs on legislators. Second, there is an absence of (or categorical precedence is against) the adoption of such techniques. Third, executive‐legislative branch conflict and complex separation of powers issues arise when state legislatures attempt to curtail administrative rulemaking in significantly new and restrictive ways.

Conservation and Economy: The North Carolina Geological Survey, 1891–1920

Around the turn of the century North Carolinians set out to change the impression that the South was backward, unhealthy, and ignorant. The conservation effort that began in 1891 was in part a response to such notions, in part a recognition that economic progress was impossible until a comprehensive program could be developed to overcome the persisting lag in resource development caused by the Civil War. The creation of the Geological Survey in 1891 by the North Carolina General Assembly, it was hoped, would contribute to just such a program. Its assignment: to examine the nature and extent of the mineral, forest, and water resources of the state and to foster economic development., Competent leadership insured a healthy start to the work of the survey. Joseph A. Holmes, professor of Geology and Natural History at the University of North Carolina, won national acclaim for his direction of the Geological Survey. In 1893 Gifford Pinchot and W. WV. Ashe were brought in to survey the forests of the state, Pinchot identifying the important trees and Ashe describing forest regions.2 Holmes published the results of their work, and by the end of 1899 two million dollars had been invested in the timber and timberlands of the state. At the same time a powerful educational campaign

North Carolina General Assembly and Library Legislation in 1969

North Carolina General Assembly and Library Legislation in 1969