Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century

Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century PDF Author: William H. Stewart
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817319271
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
An expansive and accessible primer on Alabama state politics, past and present, which provides an in-depth appreciation and understanding of the twenty-second state’s distinctive political machinery Why does Alabama rank so low on many of the indicators of quality of life? Why did some of the most dramatic developments in the civil rights revolution of the 1960s take place in Alabama? Why is it that a few interest groups seem to have the most political power in Alabama? William H. Stewart’s Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century explores these questions and more, illuminating many of the often misunderstood details of contemporary Alabama politics in this cohesive and comprehensive publication. The Alabama state government, especially as a specimen of Deep South politics, is a topic of frequent discussion by its general public—second only to college football. However, there remains a surprising lack of literature focusing on the workings of the state’s bureaucracy in an extensive and systematic way. Bearing in mind the Yellowhammer State’s long and rich political history, Stewart concentrates on Alabama’s statecraft from the first decade of the twenty-first century through the November 2010 elections and considers what the widespread Republican victories mean for their constituents. He also studies several different themes prominent during the 2010 elections, including the growing number and influence of special interest groups, the respective polarization of whites and blacks into the Republican and Democratic parties, and the increasingly unwieldy state constitution. This fascinating and revealing text provides a wealth of information about an extremely complex state government. Featuring detailed descriptions of important concepts and events presented in a thorough and intelligible manner, Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century is perfect for scholars, students, everyday Alabamians, or anyone who wants the inside scoop on the subtle inner workings of the Cotton State’s politics.

Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century

Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century PDF Author: William H. Stewart
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817319271
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 297

Get Book

Book Description
An expansive and accessible primer on Alabama state politics, past and present, which provides an in-depth appreciation and understanding of the twenty-second state’s distinctive political machinery Why does Alabama rank so low on many of the indicators of quality of life? Why did some of the most dramatic developments in the civil rights revolution of the 1960s take place in Alabama? Why is it that a few interest groups seem to have the most political power in Alabama? William H. Stewart’s Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century explores these questions and more, illuminating many of the often misunderstood details of contemporary Alabama politics in this cohesive and comprehensive publication. The Alabama state government, especially as a specimen of Deep South politics, is a topic of frequent discussion by its general public—second only to college football. However, there remains a surprising lack of literature focusing on the workings of the state’s bureaucracy in an extensive and systematic way. Bearing in mind the Yellowhammer State’s long and rich political history, Stewart concentrates on Alabama’s statecraft from the first decade of the twenty-first century through the November 2010 elections and considers what the widespread Republican victories mean for their constituents. He also studies several different themes prominent during the 2010 elections, including the growing number and influence of special interest groups, the respective polarization of whites and blacks into the Republican and Democratic parties, and the increasingly unwieldy state constitution. This fascinating and revealing text provides a wealth of information about an extremely complex state government. Featuring detailed descriptions of important concepts and events presented in a thorough and intelligible manner, Alabama Politics in the Twenty-First Century is perfect for scholars, students, everyday Alabamians, or anyone who wants the inside scoop on the subtle inner workings of the Cotton State’s politics.

Alabama in the Twentieth Century

Alabama in the Twentieth Century PDF Author: Wayne Flynt
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 081731430X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 621

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Book Description
A native son and accomplished historian does not flinch from pointing out Alabama's failures from the past 100 years; neither is he restrained in calling attention to the state's triumphs in this authoritative, popular history of the past 100 years.

Alabama Getaway

Alabama Getaway PDF Author: Allen Tullos
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 082033961X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
In Alabama Getaway Allen Tullos explores the recent history of one of the nation's most conservative states to reveal its political imaginary—the public shape of power, popular imagery, and individual opportunity. From Alabama's largely ineffectual politicians to its miserly support of education, health care, cultural institutions, and social services, Tullos examines why the state appears to be stuck in repetitive loops of uneven development and debilitating habits of judgment. The state remains tied to fundamentalisms of religion, race, gender, winner-take-all economics, and militarism enforced by punitive and defensive responses to criticism. Tullos traces the spectral legacy of George Wallace, ponders the roots of anti-egalitarian political institutions and tax structures, and challenges Birmingham native Condoleezza Rice's use of the civil rights struggle to justify the war in Iraq. He also gives due coverage to the state's black citizens who with a minority of whites have sustained a movement for social justice and democratic inclusion. As Alabama competes for cultural tourism and global industries like auto manufacturing and biomedical research, Alabama Getaway asks if the coming years will see a transformation of the “Heart of Dixie.”

Political Power in Alabama

Political Power in Alabama PDF Author: Anne Permaloff
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820331899
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 406

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Book Description
Political Power in Alabama is the sequel to Anne Permaloff and Carl Grafton's Big Mules and Branchheads, a biography of the populist governor "Big Jim" Folsom. Encompassing the years from 1958 to 1970 and the gubernatorial terms of John Patterson, George Wallace, Lurleen Wallace, and Albert Brewer, the present volume offers a full account of the breakup of the Big Mule Alliance, the elite coalition of Alabama's largest industrial and agricultural interests, and the subsequent effects on the state's political environment. Dominating Alabama politics for most of the century through disenfranchisement and control of the legislature, the "Big Mules" wanted low taxes, a minimally effective school system, no effective labor unions, a small electorate, and racial segregation. By 1958, however, the Big Mules' urban and rural elements had grown disaffected with one another, and outside forces were driving them apart. In a few years, the legislature and the electorate would be drastically restructured. Although this period could have been a time to set new policy directions for the state, say Permaloff and Grafton, many opportunities for change were squandered, establishing the politics of Alabama today and the problems facing the state. Political Power in Alabama covers an extraordinarily complex set of issues and events, including the civil rights struggle, urban-rural disparities, the lack of party competition, the structure of the tax system, and the economic and cultural gaps separating Alabama and the rest of the South from the nation.

State Constitutions for the Twenty-first Century, Volume 1

State Constitutions for the Twenty-first Century, Volume 1 PDF Author: G. Alan Tarr
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791466148
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
The first systematic analysis of the obstacles to state constitutional reform.

Two-Party Politics in the One-Party South

Two-Party Politics in the One-Party South PDF Author: Samuel L. Webb
Publisher: University Alabama Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Presents new evidence that, contrary to popular belief, voters in at least one Deep South state did not flee from the Republican Party after Reconstruction. Demonstrates that the party gained strength among white voters in northern Alabama's Hill Country region between 1896 and 1920, and examines the influence of former independents, Greenbackers, and Populists who bolstered the ranks of the party. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Ongoing Burden of Southern History

The Ongoing Burden of Southern History PDF Author: Angie Maxwell
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807147575
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
More than fifty years after its initial publication, C. Vann Woodward's landmark work, The Burden of Southern History, remains an essential text on the southern past. Today, a "southern burden" still exists, but its shape and impact on southerners and the world varies dramatically from the one envisioned by Woodward. Recasting Woodward's ideas on the contemporary South, the contributors to The Ongoing Burden of Southern History highlight the relevance of his scholarship for the twenty-first-century reader and student. This interdisciplinary retrospective tackles questions of equality, white southern identity, the political legacy of Reconstruction, the heritage of Populism, and the place of the South within the nation, along with many others. From Woodward's essays on populism and irony, historians find new insight into the burgeoning Tea Party, while they also shed light on the contemporary legacy of the redeemer Democrats. Using up-to-date election data, scholars locate a "shrinking" southern identity and point to the accomplishments of the recent influx of African American voters and political candidates. This penetrating analysis reinterprets Woodward's classic for a new generation of readers interested in the modern South. Contributors: Josephine A. V. Allen, Charles S. Bullock III, James C. Cobb, Donald R. Deskins Jr., Leigh Anne Duck, Angie Maxwell, Robert C. McMath, Wayne Parent, Sherman C. Puckett, Todd Shields, Hanes Walton Jr., Jeannie Whayne, Patrick G. Williams.

The Politics of White Rights

The Politics of White Rights PDF Author: Joseph Bagley
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 082035418X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
In The Politics of White Rights, Joseph Bagley recounts the history of school desegregation litigation in Alabama, focusing on the malleability and durability of white resistance. He argues that the litigious battles of 1954–73 taught Alabama’s segregationists how to fashion a more subtle defense of white privilege, placing them in the vanguard of a new conservatism oriented toward the Sunbelt, not the South. Scholars have recently begun uncovering the ways in which segregationists abandoned violent backlash and overt economic reprisal and learned how to rearticulate their resistance and blind others to their racial motivations. Bagley is most interested in a creedal commitment to maintaining “law and order,” which lay at the heart of this transition. Before it was a buzz phrase meant to conjure up fears of urban black violence, “law and order” represented a politics that allowed self-styled white moderates to begrudgingly accept token desegregation and to begin to stake their own claims to constitutional rights without forcing them to repudiate segregation or white supremacy. Federal courts have, as recently as 2014, agreed that Alabama’s property tax system is crippling black education. Bagley argues that this is because, in the late 1960s, the politics of law and order became a politics of white rights, which supported not only white flight to suburbs and private schools but also nominally color-blind changes in the state’s tax code. These changes were designed to shield white money from the needs of increasingly black public education. Activists and courts have been powerless to do anything about them, because twenty years of desperate litigious combat finally taught Alabama lawmakers how to erect constitutional bulwarks that could withstand a legal assault.

Alabama Justice

Alabama Justice PDF Author: Steven P. Brown
Publisher: University Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817320709
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
Winner of the Anne B. & James B. McMillan Prize in Southern History Examines the legacies of eight momentous US Supreme Court decisions that have their origins in Alabama legal disputes Unknown to many, Alabama has played a remarkable role in a number of Supreme Court rulings that continue to touch the lives of every American. In Alabama Justice: The Cases and Faces That Changed a Nation, Steven P. Brown has identified eight landmark cases that deal with religion, voting rights, libel, gender discrimination, and other issues, all originating from legal disputes in Alabama. Written in a concise and accessible manner, each case law chapter begins with the circumstances that created the dispute. Brown then provides historical and constitutional background for the issue followed by a review of the path of litigation. Excerpts from the Court's ruling in the case are also presented, along with a brief account of the aftermath and significance of the decision. The First Amendment (New York Times v. Sullivan), racial redistricting (Gomillion v. Lightfoot), the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Frontiero v. Richardson), and prayer in public schools (Wallace v. Jaffree) are among the pivotal issues stamped indelibly by disputes with their origins in Alabama legal, political, and cultural landscapes. In addition to his analysis of cases, Brown discusses the three associate justices sent from Alabama to the Supreme Court--John McKinley, John Archibald Campbell, and Hugo Black--whose cumulative influence on the institution of the Court, constitutional interpretation, and the day-to-day rights and liberties enjoyed by every American is impossible to measure. A closing chapter examines the careers and contributions of these three Alabamians.

Inside Alabama

Inside Alabama PDF Author: Harvey H. Jackson
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817350683
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
An insider's perspective in a conversational, yet unapologetic style on the events and conditions that shaped modern-day Alabama.