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Black Employment in Municipal Jobs: The Impact of Black Political Power

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  • Eisinger, Peter K.

Abstract

An analysis of affirmative action data regarding levels of black employment in the civil service of forty-three U.S. cities indicates that observed variations are mainly a function of the size of the black population and the presence of a black mayor. By interpreting the size of the black population as an indicator of potential bloc voting power and by making explicit the links between the mayor's office and the personnel system, we may conclude that civil service hiring represents one tangible benefit of black political po wer. Other possible hypotheses explaining variations in levels of black employment are less satisfactory, including the argument that minority employment is mainly a function of the expansion or contraction of the public sector. The research suggests that to some degree a politics of ethnicity which involves the distribution of divisible economic goods to a particular group as a consequence of that group's political power is still a possibility in American cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Eisinger, Peter K., 1982. "Black Employment in Municipal Jobs: The Impact of Black Political Power," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 76(2), pages 380-392, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:76:y:1982:i:02:p:380-392_18
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    Cited by:

    1. Virginia Parks, 2011. "Revisiting Shibboleths of Race and Urban Economy: Black Employment in Manufacturing and the Public Sector Compared, Chicago 1950–2000," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 110-129, January.
    2. O'Brien, Kevin M., 2003. "The determinants of minority employment in police and fire departments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 183-195, May.
    3. Zhao, Jihong & He, Ni & Lovrich, Nicholas, 2005. "Predicting the employment of minority officers in U.S. cities: OLS fixed-effect panel model results for African American and Latino officers for 1993, 1996, and 2000," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 377-386.
    4. Ebonya L. Washington, 2011. "Do Majority Black Districts Limit Blacks' Representation? The Case of the 1990 Redistricting," NBER Working Papers 17099, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Gary Hoover & Sondra Collins, 2013. "Elected Versus Appointed County Commission Executives: Race, Political Favors and Support Facilities," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 40(4), pages 449-457, December.
    6. Edward L. Glaeser, 2012. "Urban Public Finance," NBER Working Papers 18244, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Daniel A. Broxterman & Trenton Chen Jin, 2022. "House Prices, Government Quality, and Voting Behavior," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 179-209, February.
    8. Roy Gardner, 1987. "A theory of the spoils system," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 171-185, January.

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