Since the passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964, only three Democrats have captured the White House -- all of them natives of southern states. The ascendancy and reelection of Bill Clinton to the presidency is a prime example of this phenomenon, and although books have been published on the "native son" psychological variable in electoral contests, no work to date has investigated this aspect of Clinton's political career.

Covering all of Clinton's twenty-one elections to state and national offices, Hanes Walton Jr. explores one of the political success stories of our century, showing how Clinton's popularity in his southern home has had a profound influence on his national electoral dominance. Walton combines the native-son theory with the issue of race to describe how the Democrats have built a vital power base in the South, in large measure because of their popularity among African-American voters.

With an epilogue on the Monica Lewinsky scandal and its effect on the Democratic Party, "Reelection" is a major contribution to the literature on the psychology of national elections at a time when its insight into the possibility of Democratic leadership into the next century is most critical.

The first comprehensive analysis of the impact of the Reagan revolution on African-American political life, this book explores the ways in which conservative elites mobilized the American public around issues of race as ideology, discourse, strategy, and political elections from the Reagan victory of 1980 to the Republican congressional triumphs of 1994. The book also critically assesses the Clinton administration's record on race and the Democratic party response to affirmative action, welfare, and other aspects of the African-American political agenda.

The first comprehensive analysis of the impact of the Reagan revolution on African-American political life, this book explores the ways in which conservative elites mobilized the American public around issues of race as ideology, discourse, strategy, and political elections from the Reagan victory of 1980 to the Republican congressional triumphs of 1994. The book also critically assesses the Clinton administration's record on race and the Democratic party response to affirmative action, welfare, and other aspects of the African-American political agenda.

This pioneering volume advances the thesis that there exists a significant linkage between Black politics and Black political behavior, heretofore treated as separate and distinct areas of study. This is the first work to bring the two together and to support such an approach with empirical studies. Chapter authors explore and analyze basic and fundamental areas of linkage providing a provocative and insightful contribution to the literature of Black politics and political behavior in America. Organized into five main linkage blocks, the work examines: Theoretical linkages between Black politics and Black political behavior; national linkages; state-contextual linkages; procedural linkages; and gender linkages. This volume will be of interest to scholars and students in American politics and political behavior and African-American politics and political behavior.