Stolen representation : Black disfranchisement and state legislative politics in the American South / Michael P. Olson

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Olson, Michael P., author.

Series:

Cambridge Studies in American Legislatures

Cambridge studies in American legislatures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--Civil rights--Southern States.

African Americans.

Political rights--Southern States.

Political rights.

African Americans--Civil rights.

Southern States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Summary:

"In the decades after Reconstruction, African Americans were systematically removed from the electorate in the American South using tools such as poll taxes and literacy tests. Stolen Representation draws on significant amounts of new historical data to explore how these tools of Black disfranchisement shaped state legislative politics in the American South. The book draws on contemporary scholarship to develop theoretical arguments for how disfranchisement plausibly affected roll-call voting, committee assignments, and policymaking activity in southern state legislatures, and uses rich data on each of these areas to demonstrate disfranchisement's profound effects. By analyzing state legislative data and drawing on historical sources to help characterize the nature of politics in each state in the period around disfranchisement, Olson offers a nuanced, context-driven exploration of disfranchisement's effects, making a major contribution to our understanding of the relationship between racial discrimination at the ballot box and public policymaking in the United States"-- Cambridge Core

Contents:

Black disfranchisement and legislative politics

State legislative politics in the post-Reconstruction South

Destroying the Republican Party : Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee

Early Deep South disfranchisement : Mississippi and South Carolina

Post-Populism disfranchisement : Alabama and Louisiana

Limited effects : Arkansas, Virginia, Georgia, and Kentucky

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed May 18, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Olson, Michael P. Stolen representation

ISBN:

9781009700207

1009700200

9781009700214

1009700219

OCLC:

1552151929

Publisher Number:

CIPO000304609

CIPO000308144

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license