Dynamics of partisan representation the American south, 1898–2010

• Published in: Quality & quantity Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 1531 - 1543
• Main Author: Whitford, Andrew B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.04.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: 20th century; Analysis; Computation; History; Legislatures; Local elections; Mathematical analysis; Methodology of the Social Sciences; Partisanship; Political behaviour; Political history; Political leadership; Political parties; Political representation; Political science; Political sociology; Political systems, parties and institutions; Reform; Republican parties; Social Sciences; Sociology; Studies; Twentieth Century; U.S.A; Century 20-21; United States Of America; United States > US; Difference equations; Political science; History; Legislatures; Political Representation; Political sciences; Political life; Historical approach; Election result; South; Political Change; Delegation
• ISSN: 0033-5177; 1573-7845
• DOI: 10.1007/s11135-011-9606-y

This study addresses institutional representation in legislative delegations through the decomposition of the southern U.S. House delegation over time. Linear first-order difference equations are calculated to show the shift from the Solid South and the disintegration of Democratic dominance. These calculations also show that the qualitative behavior of partisan control varies over time given a series of critical events, including the Dixiecrat experience, the Congressional reforms of the 1970s, and the Republican Revolution of 1994. However, I also argue that the Republican Revolution was actually predictable, given the twentieth-century experience of the southern delegation.