The transformation of the American South--from authoritarian to democratic rule--is the most important political development since World War II. It has re-sorted voters into parties, remapped ...presidential elections, and helped polarize Congress. Most important, it is the final step in America's democratization.Paths Out of Dixieilluminates this sea change by analyzing the democratization experiences of Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
Robert Mickey argues that Southern states, from the 1890s until the early 1970s, constituted pockets of authoritarian rule trapped within and sustained by a federal democracy. These enclaves--devoted to cheap agricultural labor and white supremacy--were established by conservative Democrats to protect their careers and clients. From the abolition of the whites-only Democratic primary in 1944 until the national party reforms of the early 1970s, enclaves were battered and destroyed by a series of democratization pressures from inside and outside their borders. Drawing on archival research, Mickey traces how Deep South rulers--dissimilar in their internal conflict and political institutions--varied in their responses to these challenges. Ultimately, enclaves differed in their degree of violence, incorporation of African Americans, and reconciliation of Democrats with the national party. These diverse paths generated political and economic legacies that continue to reverberate today.
Focusing on enclave rulers, their governance challenges, and the monumental achievements of their adversaries,Paths Out of Dixieshows how the struggles of the recent past have reshaped the South and, in so doing, America's political development.
After a half century of stable performance, American democracy is now under threat. The threat emerged from nationalized party competition, but it is made manifest largely in the actions of ...Republican politicians at the state level. This article describes these actions and suggests how and why the current threat to democracy differs from past periods.
Political observers have expressed concern about the failure of some Americans to uphold democratic principles. We argue that support for antidemocratic authoritarian governance is associated with ...some whites’ psychological attachment to their racial group and a desire to maintain their group’s power and status in the face of multiracial democracy. Drawing on historical work, we posit that whites’ efforts to restrict democracy are deeply rooted in America’s past; and we present empirical analysis demonstrating that today, whites with higher levels of racial solidarity are notably more supportive of authoritarian leadership than whites who do not possess a racial group consciousness.
I thank Behrend and Whitehead for their careful engagement with my book, and offer responses to their conceptual discussion and a few broader thoughts about subnational democracy, past and future.
The transformation of the American South--from authoritarian to democratic rule--is the most important political development since World War II. It has re-sorted voters into parties, remapped ...presidential elections, and helped polarize Congress. Most important, it is the final step in America's democratization. Paths Out of Dixie illuminates this sea change by analyzing the democratization experiences of Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Robert Mickey argues that Southern states, from the 1890s until the early 1970s, constituted pockets of authoritarian rule trapped within and sustained by a federal democracy. These enclaves--devoted to cheap agricultural labor and white supremacy--were established by conservative Democrats to protect their careers and clients. From the abolition of the whites-only Democratic primary in 1944 until the national party reforms of the early 1970s, enclaves were battered and destroyed by a series of democratization pressures from inside and outside their borders. Drawing on archival research, Mickey traces how Deep South rulers--dissimilar in their internal conflict and political institutions--varied in their responses to these challenges. Ultimately, enclaves differed in their degree of violence, incorporation of African Americans, and reconciliation of Democrats with the national party. These diverse paths generated political and economic legacies that continue to reverberate today. Focusing on enclave rulers, their governance challenges, and the monumental achievements of their adversaries, Paths Out of Dixie shows how the struggles of the recent past have reshaped the South and, in so doing, America's political development.
The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative, associative/predictive study was to evaluate the relationship between participation in high school athletics and grade point averages (GPAs) for ...graduated cohorts in a rural Title I school district. Study data were collected in archival form from three graduating cohorts of students from a rural Title I school district in Florida. Study findings indicated that senior students who were identified as student-athletes had a mean GPA that was significantly higher than students who were identified as non-athletes. Furthermore, when considering the effect of GPAs by gender, both female and male student-athlete GPAs were statistically higher than their non-athlete counterparts, with female student-athlete GPAs being marginally greater. Additionally, the findings of an ancillary analysis confirmed the predicted likelihood of high school graduation among student-athletes from a rural Title I school district increased the odds of graduating by approximately 3726% as compared to non-athlete students. For rural Title I school district administrators, this study’s findings provide evidence that supports the promotion of school-based athletics as a possible intervention to improve student GPAs and graduation rates.
Having successfully blunted a significant black mobilization after the abolition of the white primary, Mississippi’s rulers co-led the Dixiecrat revolt in 1948, and hardline white supremacists ...remained within the ruling party.
With theBrownshock, the state’s rulers faced their first major black insurgency in decades. Over the course of the 1950s, surprising black defiance toward the state’s politicians strengthened the hand of organized white supremacists within the ruling party. At the same time, Mississippi featured the Deep South’s most “moderate” gubernatorial leadership of the decade.
A standoff between its governors and the increasingly emboldened White Citizens’ Council (WCC) forces
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