PSC 209
SOUTHERN POLITICS
Spring 2013
Professor Halva-Neubauer
111G Johns Hall
294-3608
Office Hours: 2:30-4:00 PM, Tuesdays and Thursdays and by appointment
Course Description
Southern Politics is an advanced offering in the American politics. To some, the inclusion of this
course in the department’s curriculum may be a product of Furman’s location in the South.
Skeptics, however, may reasonably argue that the distinctiveness of the South as a region passed
many years ago, and so, too, any intellectual justification for teaching a course centered on its
politics. The Furman political science department has taken a different view, while recognizing
the far-reaching changes that have occurred in the region since the mid-20th century. Studying
the region’s politics, however, allows students of politics to assess a fascinating set of topics.
First, we face the question of distinctiveness head on. What do scholars assert makes the South
and Southerners different from their counterparts in other parts of the United States? Here we
consult the work of sociologists, historians, and scholars specializing in cultural studies for some
of those answers. Next, our focus turns to the South’s politics as a case study of political
development. As V.O. Key noted in his 1949 classic Southern Politics, “The South may not be
the nation’s number one political problem, as some northerners assert, but politics is the South’s
number one problem.” Investigating the evolution of the region’s politics from one-partyism to
the modern period allows us not merely to study political change but the wholesale
democratization of a region. In so doing, we want to analyze the factors that led to the
distinctiveness of the Old South. Why was this region so underdeveloped politically and
economically and with what consequences? How did the region operate as an enclave within the
United States? Next, we turn to a question, of equal interest: The transformation of the region’s
politics. Race plays an enduring role in understanding Southern politics as well as its
transformation. As such we will spend time looking at the impact of the civil rights movement
and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on Southern politics. The
role of African-Americans in the New South is considerable; it is especially important to assess
the impact of this group (as well as other communities of color) in light of the 2008 and 2012
elections. Studying Southern politics also allows students to investigate partisan transformation,
particularly the rise of the Republican party in the South. This transformation has had important
implications not only for the region but also for national politics. By focusing our efforts on
Southern Politics, we will be able to give more precise answers to the overarching question of
American Politics: How does democracy function? The answers derived from the study of
Southern politics provide much grist for the animating question of American Politics.
Required Readings
Charles S. Bullock, III, and Mark Rozell (eds.), The New Politics of the Old South: An
Introduction to Southern Politics, 4th edition, Rowman and Littlefield, 2010
V.O. Key, Jr., Southern Politics in State and Nation, University of Tennessee, 1984
Earl Black and Merle Black, The Rise of Southern Republicans, Harvard, 2002
Charles S. Bullock, III and Ronald Keith Gaddie, The Triumph of Voting Rights in the South,
University of Oklahoma, 2009.
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Other readings that are posted on Moodle.
Course Requirements
Reading Quizzes. (30%) Each class will begin with a short quiz that covers the assigned reading
for that day. You will be able to drop your lowest quiz grade if you achieve perfect attendance in
the course. There are no make-up quizzes. If you miss class because of an excused absence,
your quiz grade will be adjusted accordingly; if your absence is unexcused, you will receive a
zero (0) for that day’s quiz.
Class Participation. (10%) Participating in class discussions over the assigned reading material,
asking interesting questions, and responding to questions posed by your instructor make for a
vibrant classroom culture. Your mark in this area will be determined by the quantity and quality
or your remarks. Attending class is a necessary but insufficient condition to excel in this
component of Southern Politics.
Critical Book Review. (15%). In a paper of 5-6 pages, double-spaced, typewritten (12-point font,
1” margins), review one of the books from “Readings About Southern Politics” listed below.
Not all of these books may be in the Daniel Library, so you may have to acquire them through
inter-library loan. If there is nothing of interest to you on the list, propose a title to your
professor. After summarizing the work’s principal findings and evaluating the quality of the
work and its data sources, evaluate the importance of the scholarship for the study of Southern
politics. Does this book add substantially to the literature of Southern politics. If so, how so? If
not, why does it fall short?
You can look at the book review section in the Journal of Politics, American Political Science
Review, or Perspectives on Politics for models of critical book reviews.
Choose your book by Friday, 18 January at 11:59 PM—submit your selection electronically to
glen.halva-neubauer@furman.edu. If more than one person wishes to review the book, HN will
choose at random who reviews the book. Those not selected will have an opportunity to choose
another book that was not already selected.
The critical book review is due Friday, 1 March by 11:59 PM. It can be submitted
electronically to glen.halva-neubauer@furman.edu.
Research Paper. (25%). In a paper of 10-15 pages, double-spaced, typewritten (12-point font, 1”
margins), present a piece of original research on a topic related to Southern politics.
If you are interested in historical explanations of Southern politics you might investigate some
aspects of the civil rights movement or elections in the past. Those interested in contemporary
politics could investigate any number of races from the 2012 election cycle with an eye to what it
means about party realignment or dealignment in the South. Students enrolled in Southern
Politics to complete a course in the BCA concentration might consider looking at the rise of
African-American elected officials or the role of black legislators in state-level politics. Those
interested in looking at cultural issues that have political implications might consider an analysis
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of women in Southern politics or continuing debates over the Confederate flag. The Southern
states (particularly Georgia and North Carolina) have witnessed substantial increases in the
number of Hispanic folks living in these jurisdictions—with what implications for public policy
and politics? For the political junkies in the course, you can get your hands dirty with the
assessing the impact of the redistricting process in recent elections. What are the implications
for the Supreme Court case that will determine the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting
Rights Act (VRA)? How did this case arise?
A research paper is NOT merely a recapitulation of the work of others or a reflection paper. It
starts by posing a puzzle or a problem that you wish to resolve or answer through the research.
A research paper presents original data that you collect whether it be in the form of interviews
with elites (elected officials, interest group leaders, reporters), archival materials, election data,
newspaper articles, campaign advertisements, or roll call votes. From that data you craft an
argument to support your thesis statement.
First, you must craft a topic that meets the requirements of the research paper. To do so,
formulate a paper proposal that outlines your paper topic, hypothesis, and the data that you will
collect. The paper proposal should be between 300-500 words (approximately two pages,
double-spaced typewritten [12-point font, 1” margins]). You cannot proceed with the project
until HN has APPROVED your paper topic. Paper topics are due on Thursday, 31 January at
11:59 PM.
Research Paper with a Twist
You can choose to team with another student (only one!) n PSC 209 and complete your research
paper as a group project. Of course, I would expect more from a co-authored paper than from
one that was the work of one student. But there are good reasons to pursue this course,
especially if you wanted to do some significant data collection.
Writing an Exemplary Research Paper
HN is old fashioned. He’s a fan of well-crafted titles—the kind that tell the reader what to
expect in the paper. Moreover, he believes in introductory paragraphs that introduce a paper and
provide a roadmap to the research project. And sakes alive, he is so demanding that he likes
paragraphs that make a single point with an anchoring topic sentence. Additionally, HN likes
subheadings that demarcate the move from one point to the next. And finally, OMG, a
concluding paragraph that sums the paper’s principal findings and generalizes about their
applicability to the broader literature of Southern Politics would be the cherry on top of the
intellectual sundae. HN likes sundaes and cherries.
References
Use the style sheet of the American Political Science Association. A .pdf of the stylesheet is
included on the course Moodle site. There are many fine on-line sources, but Wikipedia is not
among them. Why? Wikipedia allows readers to add content that has not been verified. One
campaign manager altered the biography of his opponent on Wikipedia with falsehoods!
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That Grammar Thing
Dr. Charles Bullock of the University of Georgia, a noted scholar of Southern politics, so
thoroughly and eloquently captures my thoughts on lucidity, concision, and precision that I shall
quote him directly. He shares many of my pet peeves regarding grammar,
“Nouns such as Democratic or Republican Party, public official, legislature, legislator,
committee, organization are SINGULAR (HN capitalization added). Therefore these nouns
should be accompanied by singular verbs and pronouns. Thus “it, he, or she” or “his or her” and
not “they or their” should be used. THIS IS COMMONLY KNOWN AS PRONOUNANTECEDENT AGREEMENT (HN COMMENTARY ADDED).
The past tense of the verb to lead is “led” not “lead.” When lead is pronounced as led, it means
the 82nd element of the periodic table with valences of 2 and 4 and the symbol Pb.
“Data” is plural and therefore should be accompanied by plural versions of verbs and pronouns.
The singular of data is “datum.”
Unless the result is awkward, avoid split infinitives. Thus a sentence should read: “The
campaign decided to attack the opposition position on education aggressively.” Do not write:
“The campaign decided to aggressively attack the opposition position on education.” Justice
Sotomayor reportedly will not hire as a clerk any applicant who splits infinitives, so avoiding this
writing problem can have a payoff. Even if you do not aspire to clerk for Justice Sotomayor,
there are others who view split infinitives as a weakness that indicates sloppiness or lack of
education.”
Bullock, Charles S. III (2010). Syllabus for POL 4660, Southern Politics, University of Georgia,
Spring 2010. http://www.uga.edu/pol-sci/courses/2010/bullock4660spr10.pdf (Accessed 13
January 2011).
Final Version of Paper is due Friday, 19 April, by 11:59 PM. Submit it electronically to
glen.halva-neubauer@furman .edu.
Final Exam: (20%) A comprehensive final exam will be given on Friday, 26 April, at NOON.
Grading
95-100-A
90-94-A87-89-B+
84-86-B
80-83-B77-79-C+
74-76-C
70-73-C67-69-D+
64-66-D
60-63-DBelow 60-F
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Rules of the Game
(1) Incompletes will be given only in extenuating circumstances and with the advance
permission of the instructor.
(2) No make-up exams will be given.
(3) Failure to take exams on scheduled dates will result in a zero (0) for that exam.
(4) Students must complete all work to receive course credit.
(5) You are responsible for knowing the University’s policy on Academic Integrity. I expect that
each of you will comport with the Integrity Pledge that is currently being posted in all
classrooms.
(6) Any student wishing to receive an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) needs to provide documentation from the University’s ADA officer to Professor HalvaNeubauer.
(7) No more than one unexcused absence is allowed; excused absences are those that are granted
by Dean Gabbert’s office or are for documented, extenuating circumstances that prevent you
from attending class.
(8) Cell phones will be turned off and put in a basket at the beginning of class to be picked up at
the end of class.
(9) No computers are allowed in class. Take notes in the old-fashioned manner—by handwriting
them!
(10) It is RUDE to arrive to class late, leave the session early, or to leave class during the session
and then return. Be forewarned that this is your professor’s pet peeve.
COURSE OUTLINE
8 January—Introduction to Course
DEFINING THE SOUTH
10 January-Locating the South; Dixie v. Southern
Read: Christopher Cooper and H. Gibbs Knotts, “Declining Dixie: Regional
Identification in the Modern American South,” Social Forces, March 2010, pp.
1083-1102
Christopher Cooper and H. Gibbs Knotts, “Rethinking the Boundaries of the South,”
Southern Cultures, Winter 2010, pp. 72-88
John Shelton Reed, “The Heart of Dixie: An Essay in Folk Geography,” Social Forces,
June 1976, pp. 925-39
15 January-What Defines Southern Culture?
Read: Allen G. Breed, “What does it mean to be Southern,” Rome News-Tribune,
November 23, 2005
Larry J. Griffin and Ashley B. Thompson, “Enough About the Disappearing South: What
About the Disappearing Southerner?” Southern Cultures, Fall 2003, pp. 51-65
William W. Falk and Susan Webb, “Southerners All? New Northern Neighbors and the
Changing Sense of Place,” Southern Cultures, Spring 2010, pp. 65-85
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17 January-NASCAR, Labor Unions, and Southern Masculinity
Read: Dan Pierce, “The Most Southern Sport on Earth,” Southern Cultures, Summer
2001, pp. 8-33
Louis M. Kyriakoudes and Peter A. Coclanis, “‘The Tennessee Test of Manhood’:
Professional Wrestling and Southern Cultural Stereotypes,” in Patrick B. Miller
(ed.) The Sporting World of the Modern South, Illinois, 2002, pp. 276-293
Joshua I. Newman and Michael D. Giardina, “NASCAR and the ‘Southernization’ of
America: Spectatorship, Subjectivity, and the Confederation of Identity,” Cultural
Studies <=>Critical Methodologies, November 2008, pp. 479-506
Patrick Huber, “A Short History of the Redneck: The Fashioning of a Southern White
Masculine Identity,” in Southern Cultures: The Fifteenth Anniversary Reader,
Harry L. Watson and Larry J. Griffin (eds.), North Carolina, 2008, pp. 303-327
18 January—Choose Book for Critical Review by 11:59 PM, submit to HN electronically
22 January-Religion, Race, and the Confederate Flag
Read: “The Soul of the South,” pp. 283-303 in Bullock and Rozell
Christopher Cooper and H. Gibbs Knotts, “Region, Race, and Support for the South
Carolina Confederate Flag,” Social Science Quarterly, March 2006, pp. 142-154
Laura Woliver, Angela Ledford, and Chris Dolan, “The South Carolina Confederate Flag:
The Politics of Race and Citizenship,” Politics and Policy, December 2001, pp.
708-730
Larry J. Griffin and Peggy G. Hargis, “Still Distinctive After All These Years Trends in
Racial Attitudes in and out of the South,” Southern Cultures, Fall 2008, pp. 117141
Karyn Charles Rybacki and Donald Jay Rybacki, “The King, the Young Prince, and the
Last Confederate Soldier: NASCAR on the Cusp,” in Patrick B. Miller (ed.) The
Sporting World of the Modern South, Illinois, 2002, pp. 294-325.
Andrew Doyle, “An Atheist in Alabama Is Someone Who Doesn’t Believe in Bear
Bryant: A Symbol for an Embattled South,” in Patrick B. Miller (ed.) The
Sporting World of the Modern South, Illinois, 2002, pp. 247-275.
THE OLD SOUTH AND ITS IMPACT ON NATIONAL POLITICS—OR JIM CROW’S
CONSEQUENCES ABOVE THE MASON-DIXON LINE
24 January-V.O. Key’s Masterwork, Southern Politics
Read: Key, pp. xxi-xlii and 1-12
29 January-One-Party Politics, Party-in-Organization
Read: Key, pp. 385-485
31 January-Southern Voters
Read: Key, pp. 489-528
31 January—Paper topics due by 11:59 PM, submit to HN electronically
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5 February-Suffrage Restrictions and Literacy Tests
Read: Key, pp. 531-577
7 February-Poll Tax and White Primary
Read: Key, pp. 578-663
V.O. KEY’S VIEW AND CONTEMPORARY SNAPSHOTS OF SOUTHERN STATE
POLITICS
12 February-Virginia
Read: Key, pp. 15-35; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 1-24 and 135-153;
Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 3-25 and 141-163
14 February-Alabama
Read: Key, pp. 36-57; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 73-91; Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 58-77
19 February-Georgia
Read: Key, pp. 106-129; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 49-71; Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 78-110
21 February-Louisiana
Read: Key, pp. 156-182; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 113-131; Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 111140
26 February-Mississippi
Read: Key, pp. 229-253; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 93-112; Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 29-57
28 February-South Carolina
Read: Key, pp. 130-155; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 27-48; Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 164189
1 March—Critical Book Review due by 11:59 PM, submit electronically
Spring Break—Week of March 4
12 March-North Carolina
Read: Key, pp. 205-228; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 155-179; Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 190218
14 March-Texas
Read: Key, pp. 254-276; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 267-282; Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 221252
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19 March-Florida
Read: Key, pp. 82-105; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 245-265; Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 253282
21 March-Tennessee
Read: Key, pp. 58-81; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 181-205; Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 285303
26 March—Arkansas
Read: Key, pp. 183-204; Bullock and Rozell, pp. 207-218; Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 304320
28 March—Oklahoma
Read: Bullock and Rozell, pp. pp. 219-243
2 April—Wrap-Up on Voting Rights in the South
Read: Bullock and Gaddie, pp. 323-374
PARTISAN CHANGE AND THE RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN SOUTH
4 April-Confronting the Democratic Juggernaut
Read: Black and Black, RSP, pp. 1-71
9 April-The Republican Challenges in the Peripheral v. the Deep South
Read: Black and Black, RSP, 72-173
11 April—No Class, Furman Engaged!
16 April-Reagan and the New Southern Party System
Read: Black and Black, RSP, 174-293
18 April—Research Paper due by 11:59 PM, submit electronically
23 April-Republican Surge and the Southern Realignment
Read: Black and Black, RSP, 293-404
26 (FRIDAY) April—Final Examination, NOON-2:30 PM
Readings About Southern Politics
Aistrup, Joseph A. 1995. The Southern Strategy Revisited: Republican Top-Down Advancement
in the South. Lexington: UP of Kentucky.
Applebome, Peter. 1997. Dixie Rising: How the South is Shaping American Values, Politics,
and Culture. San Diego: Harvest.
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Bass, Jack and Marilyn W. Thompson. 2006. The Complicated Personal and Political Life of
Strom Thurmond. New York: Public Affairs.
Bridges, Tyler. 2001. Bad Bet on the Bayou: The Rise of Gambling in Louisiana and the Fall of
Governor Edwin Edwards. New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux.
Bullock, Charles S. III and Ronald Keith Gaddie. 2009. The Triumph of Voting Rights in the
South. Norman: UO Press.
Cahodas, Nadine. Strom Thurmond and the Politics of Southern Change. New York: Simon &
Schuster.
Canon, David T. 1999. Race, Redistricting, and Representation: The Unintended Consequences
of Black Majority Districts. Chicago: U of Chicago Press.
Cobb, James C. 2006. Away Down South: A History of Southern Identity. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Cochran, Augustus B. III. 2001. Democracy Heading South: National Politics in the Shadow of
Dixie. Lawrence: UP of Kansas.
Crespino, Joseph. 2007. In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative
Counterrevolution. Princeton: Princeton UP.
Davidson, Chandler, and Bernard Grofman, eds. 1994. Quiet Revolution in the South: The
Impact of the Voting Rights Act, 1965–1990. Princeton: Princeton UP.
Dittmer, John. 1994. Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi. Urbana: UI
Press.
Dowdy, G. Wayne. 2006. Mayor Crump Don’t Like It: Machine Politics in Memphis. Jackson:
UP of Mississippi.
Fauntroy, Michael K. 2007. Republicans and the Black Vote. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
Fenno, Richard F., Jr. 2000. Congress at the Grassroots: Representational Change in the South,
1974–1998. Chapel Hill: UNC Press.
Frederickson, Kari. 2002. The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932–1968.
Chapel Hill: UNC Press.
Glaser, James M. 1998. Race, Campaign Politics, and the Realignment in the South. New Haven:
Yale University Press.
Glaser, James M. 2005. The Hand of the Past in Contemporary Southern Politics. New Haven.:
Yale University Press.
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Gregory, James N. 2007. The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White
Southerners Transformed America. Chapel Hill: UNC Press.
Hadley, Charles D., and Lewis Bowman, eds. 1998. Party Activists in Southern Politics: Mirrors
and Makers of Change. Knoxville: UT Press.
Kapeluck, Branwell Dubose, Laurence W. Moreland, and Robert P. Steed, eds. 2009. A Paler
Shed of Red: The 2008 Presidential Election in the South. Fayetteville: UA Press.
Kantrowitz, Stephen. 2000. Ben Tillman and the Reconstruction of White Supremacy. Chapel
Hill: UNC Press.
Kruse, Kevin M. 2007. White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism.
Princeton: Princeton UP.
Lassiter, Matthew D. 2007. The Silent Majority: Suburban Politics in the Sunbelt South.
Princeton: Princeton UP
Lublin, David. 2007. The Republican South: Democratization and Partisan Change. Princeton:
Princeton UP.
Matthews, Donald R. and James W. Prothro. 1966. Negroes and the New Southern Politics. New
York: Harcourt, Brace.
Martinez, J. Michael et al. 2001. Confederate Symbols in the Contemporary South. Gainesville:
UP of Florida.
McKee, Seth. 2010. Republican Ascendancy in Southern U.S. House Elections. Boulder:
Westview Press.
Moser, Bob. Blue Dixie: Awakening the South’s Democratic Majority. 2008. New York: Holt.
Parker, Frank R. 1990. Black Votes Count: Political Empowerment in Mississippi after 1965.
Chapel Hill: UNC Press.
Shafer, Byron E. and Richard Johnston. 2006. The End of Southern Exceptionalism: Class, Race,
and Partisan Change in the Postwar South. Cambridge: Harvard UP.
Sokol, Jason. 2006. There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights.
New York: Knopf.
Steed, Robert P. and Laurence W. Morehead, eds. 2006. Writing Southern Politics:
Contemporary Interpretations and Future Directions. Lexington: UP of Kentucky.
Wilson, Charles Reagan and Mark Silk. 2005. Religion and Public Life in the South: In the
Evangelical Mode. Lanham: AltaMira Press.
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Yarbrough, Tinsley. 2002. Race and Redistricting: The Shaw-Cromartie Cases. Lawrence: UP
of Kansas.
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