Representation without Parties: Reconsidering the One-Party South, 1930–62

40 Pages Posted: 27 Aug 2014 Last revised: 1 Oct 2014

See all articles by Devin Caughey

Devin Caughey

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Political Science

Date Written: 2014

Abstract

Political scientists have long viewed the one-party South as exemplifying the impossibility of democracy in the absence of partisan competition. I argue that this view conflates the effects of disfranchisement and one-partyism. Despite the lack of partisan competition, Democratic primaries induced a qualified but real electoral connection between Southern members of Congress and the (white) eligible electorate. I show that Southern representatives exhibited strong responsiveness to the economic policy preferences of their median voter. I also demonstrate that Southern MCs’ collective shift from New Deal liberals to pivotal centrists in the 1930s and 1940s mirrored shifts in white public opinion in the South. These findings suggest important qualifications to the view of the one-party South as an “authoritarian” regime and to the conventional wisdom that that representation requires partisan competition.

Suggested Citation

Caughey, Devin, Representation without Parties: Reconsidering the One-Party South, 1930–62 (2014). APSA 2014 Annual Meeting Paper, MIT Political Science Department Research Paper No. 2014-23, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2453565 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2453565

Devin Caughey (Contact Author)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Political Science ( email )

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