Weidenbaum Center Interdisciplinary Workshop Series: Race and Representation in Local Legislative Politics: Evidence from the Great Migration in Chicago and Cleveland

Weidenbaum Center Resident Fellow and Assistant Professor of Political Science, Michael Olson, will present and speak on the paper (co-authored with WashU Political Science graduate student, Irene A. Gerrish), "Race and Representation in Local Legislative Politics: Evidence from the Great Migration in Chicago and Cleveland."

Abstract:

Black Americans have faced substantial barriers to legislative representation throughout American history. In this paper, we draw from two unique contexts -- the Chicago and Cleveland City Councils during the first wave of the Great Migration -- to explore whether legislative institutions are used as a means to reduce or elevate Black influence in the policymaking process. Drawing on fine-grained ward- and alderperson-level data, we show that on average greater Black populations at the ward level do not affect the likelihood of that ward's alderperson serving as a committee chair or the overall quality of their committee portfolio. We find some limited evidence that this is only the case when Black-ward alderpersons are in the majority, however; when in the minority party, we find a negative relationship between Black population share and committee chair service. Qualitative evidence from Cleveland suggests that local party organizations provided a vehicle for Black inclusion in local politics. Our analyses provide rich new evidence for the nature of local legislative politics amidst the demographic upheaval of the First Great Migration.