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6. The Election of Hispanic and Black Descriptive Representatives: Model Testing and Findings
- State University of New York Press
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C H A P T E R S I X T h e E l e c t i o n o f H i s p a n i c a n d B l a c k D e s c r i p t i v e R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s : M o d e l T e s t i n g a n d F i n d i n g s We are now ready to test the second general relationship, the subsequent election of Hispanic and black council members from adopted Hispanic and black minority-opportunity districts, respectively.1 Also tested are three subhypotheses positing the variables resource disparity, partisan elections , and district population density as conditioning this second general relationship across the three elections subsequent to the 1990 round of redistricting. Table 6.1 provides the number of cities that adopted at least one minority -opportunity district, the number of minority-opportunity districts adopted, and the number of minorities elected from these districts by minority status (either Hispanic or black) at each voting-age threshold for the three elections subsequent to the 1990 redistricting. For example, at the 50 percent voting-age population threshold, 60 cities have adopted at least one black minority-opportunity district. Among these 60 cities are 181 adopted black minority-opportunity districts. The number of black descriptive representatives elected from these districts is 169 in the first and second elections, and 166 in the third election subsequent to the 1990 round of redistricting. The average number of black minority-opportunity districts per city is 2.88. The average number of black descriptive representatives elected from black minority-opportunity districts per city is 2.81 during the first and second elections, and 2.76 during the third election subsequent to the 1990 round of redistricting. 7 7 Table 6.1 Number of Cities Examined, Number of Districts That Have Been Adopted as Minority-Opportunity, and Number of Elected Minority Officials by Minority Status, Voting-Age Population Threshold, and Election 60% VAP 55% VAP 50% VAP MIN.-OPP. MIN.-OPP. MIN.-OPP. THRESHOLD THRESHOLD THRESHOLD Hispanic Cities (N) 10 16 25 Minority-Opp. Districts (N) 32 [3.00] 40 [2.31] 56 [2.08] 1st Election/Hispanic Officials (N) 27 [2.70] 31 [1.93] 40 [1.60] 2nd Election/Hispanic Officials (N) 27 [2.70] 30 [1.87] 40 [1.60] 3rd Election/Hispanic Officials (N) 27 [2.70] 32 [2.00] 42 [1.68] Black Cities (N) 54 55 60 Minority-Opp. Districts (N) 143 [2.50] 159 [2.74] 181 [2.88] 1st Election/Black Officials (N) 132 [2.44] 148 [2.69] 169 [2.81] 2nd Election/Black Officials (N) 132 [2.44] 148 [2.69] 169 [2.81] 3rd Election/Black Officials (N) 130 [2.40] 136 [2.47] 166 [2.76] Note: Numbers in brackets are means. As would be expected, as the threshold decreases, the number of cities increases in analyses for Hispanics and blacks. Cities in the Hispanic analysisincrease from 10 to 16 and then to 25, while cities in the black analysis increase from 54 to 55 and then to 60. In similar fashion, as the threshold decreases the total number of Hispanic minority-opportunity districts increases, and the total number of Hispanic officials elected from these districts increases. Similarly, as the threshold decreases, the total number of black minority-opportunity districts increases, and the total number of black officials elected from these districts increases. Likewise, for cities in the Hispanic analysis the average number per city of minority-opportunity districts and the average number per city of Hispanic 7 8 Race, Ethnicity, and the Politics of City Redistricting [3.236.19.251] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 00:16 GMT) officials elected from these districts (both shown in brackets) decreases as the threshold decreases. In contrast, though, for cities in the black analysis the average number per city of minority-opportunity districts and the average number per city of black officials elected from these districts increases as the threshold decreases. Tables 6.2a and 6.2b provide descriptive statistics for the variables Hispanic minority-opportunity districts (HOD), Hispanic elected officials (HEO), black minority-opportunity districts (BOD), and black elected officials (BEO) on the metric to be used in the regression equations. The Hispanic or black minority-opportunity districts variable is the proportion of a city’s districts adopted as...