“What Has Black Leadership Done for Us?”: Black Disaffection with Local Politics

• In Event: Political Representation: Race, Gender, and Age II

Abstract

Local government is central to the U.S. political system, as both a source of representation and a source of civic education for the average American. As the representation of Black Americans in local government has proliferated in the decades since the Civil Rights movement, so too have the constraints on local government. Despite the partial revitalization of American cities in recent decades, a steady decline in federal funding and a shrunken tax base have left cities with greater needs and fewer resources. A more direct threat comes from state governments, which wield preemption as a tool to undermine local authority in areas such as minimum wage, housing, and firearms. This is particularly true for majority-Black cities, which more frequently are targeted by the state for preemption. The political power of Black Americans is uniquely concentrated at the local level, and thus uniquely stymied by state-imposed constraints. Yet, the division of state and local power is largely unclear to individuals and the limited scope of local government’s power is obscured from the mass public. I argue that as a result of state-imposed constraints, Black mayors have been hampered in their efforts to improve local conditions in meaningful ways. Black Americans tend to express disappointment with their local conditions, and while many see continued value in descriptive representation, they have grown disaffected with a political system that does not serve them. This inquiry has narrow implications regarding the relationship between Black Americans and their elected officials, and it has wider implications regarding civic learning. Does increasing voters’ knowledge of exogenous constraints on political progress reduce disaffection?

Author

• Dan Confalone, Temple University