Description
Book SynopsisThe shift in Southern political allegiance from Democratic to Republican has been explained, by scholars and journalists, as a white backlash to the civil rights revolution. Here, the authors refute that view: The true story, they argue, is instead one of dramatic class reversal, beginning in the 1950s and pulling everything else in its wake.
Trade ReviewPolitical scientists, following one argument advanced in V.O. Key's 1948 classic
Southern Politics, have long declared that the increasing Republicanism of the American South was a response to racial issues. Now Byron Shafer and Richard Johnston present a new view in
The End of Southern Exceptionalism. Noting that Key also argued that economics affected Southern politics, they use election and polling data to show that the increasing Republicanism of the South has been primarily a response to the vast economic change in the region since 1948. Their argument is convincing, and will be as important in assessing Southern politics as Key's. -- Michael Barone, Senior Writer,
U.S. News & World Report, co-author of
The Almanac of American Politics 1972–2006, and author of
Our Country: The Shaping of American from Roosevelt to ReaganByron Shafer and Richard Johnston have broken new ground in the study of race and class in the post-war South. Challenging orthodox analyses, Shafer and Johnston show the crucial importance of class, especially the powerful role of economic elites, in driving the early movement toward the Republican Party.
The End of Southern Exceptionalism: Class, Race, and Partisan Change in the Postwar South is essential reading, not just for students of American politics, but for all those interested in the transformation of the most interesting region of the country. -- Thomas Byrne Edsall,
Washington Post writer and co-author of
Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American PoliticsEnlightened opinion holds that the South is a racist, economic backwater where white backlash against the Civil Rights movement replaced the Democratic "Solid South" with Republican dominance in the region. Now Byron Shafer and Richard Johnston are challenging this enduring "myth." In
The End of Southern Exceptionalism, they convincingly argue that it wasn't the GOP playing the race card that spurred the rise of Southern Republicans, but post-World War II economic development. -- Robert Saldin * New York Post *
Byron E. Shafer and Richard Johnston, challenge the notion of regional distinctiveness and the centrality of race to Southern politics in their meticulous study,
The End of Southern Exceptionalism. They scour reams of electoral returns--this book is a sweet fix for political junkies--to challenge the theory that the Republican Party is nothing more than the remnant of the old conservative Democratic Party. -- David Turner * News and Observer *
Table of Contents* Preface *1. The Nature of the Puzzle *2. Economic Development and a Politics of Class *3. Legal Desegregation and a Politics of Race *4. Class, Race, and Partisan Change *5. Social Forces and Partisan Politicians *6. Old South, New South, No South? * Notes * References * Index
