Effects of Multimember Districts on Black Representation in State Legislatures
- 1 March 1986
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in The Review of Black Political Economy
- Vol. 14 (4) , 65-78
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02903792
Abstract
We look at the most general feature of multimember districts (MMDs) as compared to single-member districting (SMD) plans: the higher likelihood of submergence of minority voting strength. We focus on data on black legislative representation between 1977 and 1982 in the 11 states with more than 15% black populations, and compare states which use MMDs with those that use SMDs. We also examine changes in black representation in states which shifted from MMDs to SMDs. In addition, for MMD state legislative elections in eight North Carolina counties between 1978 and 1982, we examine in detail the nature of minority submergence including the lack of geographic representativity of the persons elected from MMDs. The counties we examine contain four of North Carolina's largest cities and a substantial portion of North Carolina's black population. Unlike almost all of the previously published literature on racial representation in MMDs, our study deals with state legislative races and not local elections.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Impact of Multimember Districts on Party Representation in U. S. State LegislaturesLegislative Studies Quarterly, 1985
- The “Totality of Circumstances Test” in Section 2 of the 1982 Extension of the Voting Rights Act: A Social Science Perspective*Law & Policy, 1985
- The Social and Political Bases of a Black Candidate's Coalition: Race, Class, and Ideology in the 1976 North Carolina Primary ElectionPolitics & Society, 1980