The struggle for civil rights among black Americans has moved into the voting booth. How such a shift came about—and what it means—is revealed in this timely reflection on black presidential politics in recent years.

Since 1984, largely as a result of Jesse Jackson’s presidential bid, blacks have been galvanized politically. Drawing on a substantial national survey of black voters, Katherine Tate shows how this process manifested itself at the polls in 1984, 1988, and 1992. In an analysis of the black presidential vote by region, income, age, and gender, she is able to identify unique aspects of the black experience as they shape political behavior, and to answer longstanding questions about that behavior.

Unique in its focus on the black electorate, this study illuminates a little-understood and tremendously significant aspect of American politics. It will benefit those who wish to understand better the subtle interplay of race and politics, at the voting booth and beyond.

• Contents 
• Preface to the Enlarged Edition, 1994
• Preface
• 1 
• New Black Politics
• The New Black Voter and Jackson's Presidential Campaigns
• The Second Stage of the Civil Rights Movement?
• 2 
• Race, Class, and Black Policy Views
• Is the Significance of Race Increasing or Declining?
• Black Political Liberalism and Conservatism
• United by Race or Divided by Class?
• 3 
• Blacks and the Democratic Party
• A Historical Overview
• Explaining Black Support for the Democratic Party Today
• Impact of the Reagan Presidency and the Jackson Candidacies
• 4 
• Group Resources and Black Electoral Participation
• Black Collective Resources
• Who within the Black Community Participates?
• The Impact of Group-Based Political Resources on Black Participation
• Black Officeseeking and Participation
• 5 
• Black Turnout in the 1984 and 1988 Presidential Primaries and Elections
• Who Voted in the 1984 and 1988 Presidential Primaries?
• The Impact of Reagan, Bush, and Jackson on Turnout in the Presidential Elections
• Blacks as Strategic Voters
• 6 
• The Black Vote in 1984 and 1988
• Blacks' Evaluations of Presidential Nominees and Presidents
• Economic Conditions and the Black Presidential Vote
• Black Support for Jesse Jackson
• 7 
• Black Power and Electoral Politics
• The Black Power Movement
• Black Political Independence and Racial Voting
• The Resurgence of Black Nationalism
• 8 
• Black Electoral Politics and Beyond
• Group-Oriented Politics or a Movement?
• Black Alternatives to the Ballot
• 9 
• A Show of Loyalty: Black Voters in the 1992 Elections
• Explaining Black Party Loyalty in 1992
• Blacks and Third-Party Candidate Ross Perot
• A Record Expansion of Blacks' Legislative Power
• Appendix A 
• The National Black Election Study
• Appendix B 
• Methodological Notes
• Notes
• References
• Index