When the Letter Betrays the Spirit: Voting Rights Enforcement and African American Participation from Lyndon Johnson to Barack Obama

by Tyson D. King-Meadows

Overview

List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Congressional Authority and Voting Rights Enforcement
A Retrospective and Prospective Look at the Voting Rights Act
Chapter 1: Why Discretion Matters in Voting Rights Enforcement
Chapter 2: Obama's Inheritance: The Johnson Framework, the VRA, and Faith in Federal Power
The Challenge to Congressional Authority
Chapter 3: Misdirection: Political Theatre and the 2006 Reauthorization of Section 5
Chapter 4: Partisan Spoils of Office: A post-Shaw Judicial Philosophy of Civic Literacy
Chapter 5: Is "Bull Connor" Dead? Contemporary Public Opinion on Voting Rights Policy
Chapter 6: A Battle of Principals: Congress, the DOJ, and the George W. Bush Administration
A Systems Theory Approach to Enforcement
Chapter 7: The Macro-Political Context Shaping Enfranchisement, 2000-2008
Conclusion: Regulating Discretion and the Challenge of Post-Racial Politics
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Selected Bibliography

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739149133
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	08/18/2011
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	374
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Tyson D. King-Meadows is assistant professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures Acknowledgments Introduction: Congressional Authority and Voting Rights Enforcement A Retrospective and Prospective Look at the Voting Rights Act Chapter 1: Why Discretion Matters in Voting Rights Enforcement Chapter 2: Obama's Inheritance: The Johnson Framework, the VRA, and Faith in Federal Power The Challenge to Congressional Authority Chapter 3: Misdirection: Political Theatre and the 2006 Reauthorization of Section 5 Chapter 4: Partisan Spoils of Office: A post-Shaw Judicial Philosophy of Civic Literacy Chapter 5: Is "Bull Connor" Dead? Contemporary Public Opinion on Voting Rights Policy Chapter 6: A Battle of Principals: Congress, the DOJ, and the George W. Bush Administration A Systems Theory Approach to Enforcement Chapter 7: The Macro-Political Context Shaping Enfranchisement, 2000-2008 Conclusion: Regulating Discretion and the Challenge of Post-Racial Politics Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Selected Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

The 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) is considered the crowning achievement of the American civil rights movement in the effort to secure equal rights for African Americans. While impressive gains have been made in terms of black voter registration and election turnout, King-Meadows (Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County) contends that the act's enforcement has been mercurial, contingent upon the political inclinations of whoever is currently president. The reason for this is the subject of this book. The author argues that the structure of the VRA was devised by Lyndon Johnson, placing significant moral and political faith in the president to support voting rights. This faith came at the expense of congressional oversight and legislation that could have limited that discretion, compelling presidents, regardless of who it is, to enforce minority voting rights. Despite several reauthorizations of the VRA since 1965, the Johnson framework remains in place, limiting the effectiveness of the act. The book offers good analysis of the various congressional VRA debates, studies in presidential nonsupport, and observations on where the future of minority voting rights enforcement is headed under Obama and future presidents. Good for collections on civil rights, voting rights, and presidential power. Summing Up: Recommended.

CHOICE

Tyson King-Meadows provides an exhaustive examination of the Voting Rights Act, including its adoption, interpretation, implementation, and revision. His focus is on the enormous discretion that presidents, justices, and Congress have had, and continue to have, in decisions concerning the Act, discretion that can be employed to strengthen or weaken the impact of the Act on minority empowerment. Anyone interested in the role that this Act plays in American politics will learn a great deal from this book, including those who think they are already well versed in the Act and its consequences.--Richard L. Engstrom, Duke University

King-Meadows does an outstanding job of advancing an inherently difficult proposition-a Congress-Centered approach to voting rights enforcement. Because he is so meticulous in analyzing the many practical implications of our current Executive-Centered Framework, and does it using many different kinds of evidence, his book will be of great interest to scholars who study African American politics, voting rights and civil rights policy, political representation, as well as public policy implementation.--Todd Shaw, University of South Carolina

Professor Tyson King-Meadows has produced an exceptionally brilliant and timely piece of scholarship on the state and status of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and its four renewals. This comprehensive and systematic work takes the reader from President LBJ to President Barack Obama via King-Meadows's original conceptualization the "Johnson Framework" through the Conservative Movement and its presidents along with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights efforts to redirect and reorient the focus and implementation of VRA as a different public policy. The intellectual sweep of this work encompasses not only the executive, but the legislative, judicial, and bureaucratic branches of government. This culminates in a bold new theory that is generated from both quantitative and qualitative data. Rare scholarship is on display in every chapter of this book.--Hanes Walton Jr.

From the Publisher

Professor Tyson King-Meadows has produced an exceptionally brilliant and timely piece of scholarship on the state and status of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and its four renewals. This comprehensive and systematic work takes the reader from President LBJ to President Barack Obama via King-Meadows's original conceptualization the "Johnson Framework" through the Conservative Movement and its presidents along with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights efforts to redirect and reorient the focus and implementation of VRA as a different public policy. The intellectual sweep of this work encompasses not only the executive, but the legislative, judicial, and bureaucratic branches of government. This culminates in a bold new theory that is generated from both quantitative and qualitative data. Rare scholarship is on display in every chapter of this book.

Hanes Walton Jr.

Tyson King-Meadows provides an exhaustive examination of the Voting Rights Act, including its adoption, interpretation, implementation, and revision. His focus is on the enormous discretion that presidents, justices, and Congress have had, and continue to have, in decisions concerning the Act, discretion that can be employed to strengthen or weaken the impact of the Act on minority empowerment. Anyone interested in the role that this Act plays in American politics will learn a great deal from this book, including those who think they are already well versed in the Act and its consequences.

Richard L. Engstrom

King-Meadows does an outstanding job of advancing an inherently difficult proposition-a Congress-Centered approach to voting rights enforcement. Because he is so meticulous in analyzing the many practical implications of our current Executive-Centered Framework, and does it using many different kinds of evidence, his book will be of great interest to scholars who study African American politics, voting rights and civil rights policy, political representation, as well as public policy implementation.

Todd Shaw

The 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) is considered the crowning achievement of the American civil rights movement in the effort to secure equal rights for African Americans. While impressive gains have been made in terms of black voter registration and election turnout, King-Meadows (Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County) contends that the act's enforcement has been mercurial, contingent upon the political inclinations of whoever is currently president. The reason for this is the subject of this book. The author argues that the structure of the VRA was devised by Lyndon Johnson, placing significant moral and political faith in the president to support voting rights. This faith came at the expense of congressional oversight and legislation that could have limited that discretion, compelling presidents, regardless of who it is, to enforce minority voting rights. Despite several reauthorizations of the VRA since 1965, the Johnson framework remains in place, limiting the effectiveness of the act. The book offers good analysis of the various congressional VRA debates, studies in presidential nonsupport, and observations on where the future of minority voting rights enforcement is headed under Obama and future presidents. Good for collections on civil rights, voting rights, and presidential power. Summing Up: Recommended.

Choice Reviews

The 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) is considered the crowning achievement of the American civil rights movement in the effort to secure equal rights for African Americans. While impressive gains have been made in terms of black voter registration and election turnout, King-Meadows (Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County) contends that the act's enforcement has been mercurial, contingent upon the political inclinations of whoever is currently president. The reason for this is the subject of this book. The author argues that the structure of the VRA was devised by Lyndon Johnson, placing significant moral and political faith in the president to support voting rights. This faith came at the expense of congressional oversight and legislation that could have limited that discretion, compelling presidents, regardless of who it is, to enforce minority voting rights. Despite several reauthorizations of the VRA since 1965, the Johnson framework remains in place, limiting the effectiveness of the act. The book offers good analysis of the various congressional VRA debates, studies in presidential nonsupport, and observations on where the future of minority voting rights enforcement is headed under Obama and future presidents. Good for collections on civil rights, voting rights, and presidential power. Summing Up: Recommended.

Choice