Princeton University Press
Uneasy Alliances: Race and Party Competition in America
Key Metrics
- Paul Frymer
- Princeton University Press
- Paperback
- 9780691148014
- 9.2 X 6 X 0.8 inches
- 0.85 pounds
- Political Science > Political Process - Campaigns & Elections
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
Uneasy Alliances is a powerful challenge to how we think about the relationship between race, political parties, and American democracy. While scholars frequently claim that the need to win elections makes government officials responsive to any and all voters, Paul Frymer shows that not all groups are treated equally; politicians spend most of their time and resources on white swing voters--to the detriment of the African American community. As both parties try to attract white swing voters by distancing themselves from blacks, black voters are often ignored and left with unappealing alternatives. African Americans are thus the leading example of a captured minority.
Frymer argues that our two-party system bears much of the blame for this state of affairs. Often overlooked in current discussions of racial politics, the party system represents a genuine form of institutional racism. Frymer shows that this is no accident, for the party system was set up in part to keep African American concerns off the political agenda. Today, the party system continues to restrict the political opportunities of African American voters, as was shown most recently when Bill Clinton took pains to distance himself from African Americans in order to capture conservative votes and win the presidency. Frymer compares the position of black voters with other social groups--gays and lesbians and the Christian right, for example--who have recently found themselves similarly captured. Rigorously argued and researched, Uneasy Alliances is a powerful challenge to how we think about the relationship between black voters, political parties, and American democracy.
In a new afterword, Frymer examines the impact of Barack Obama's election on the delicate relationship between race and party politics in America.
Author Bio
Paul Frymer is a Professor of Politics and Director of the Program in Law and Public Affairs at Princeton University. His research and teaching interests are broadly in American politics and public policy, engaging specifically in questions of law, civil rights and race, labor and employment, parties and social movements, and historical-institutional development.
He is the author of numerous articles and three books: Uneasy Alliances: Race and Party Competition in America (Princeton University Press, 1999, second edition 2010); Black and Blue: African Americans, the Labor Movement, and the Decline of the Democratic Party (Princeton University Press, 2008); and Building an American Empire: The Era of Territorial and Political Expansion (Princeton University Press, 2017).
Black and Blue received the best book award from the American Political Science Association's Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section, and an article from the book project received the Mary Parker Follett Award for best article in Politics and History, the McGraw Hill Prize for best article in Law and Courts from the American Political Science Association, and the Best Article award from the Law and Society Association. Building an American Empire received the J. David Greenstone Award for the best book in Politics and History and the best book in Political Sociology from the American Sociological Association.
He is also the recipient of multiple teaching awards, including the Stanley Kelley, Jr. Teaching Award from the Princeton Politics Department. He has a B.A. and J.D. from U.C. Berkeley and a Ph.D. in political science from Yale University.
Source: Program in Law and Public Affairs Princeton University
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