Mississippi: Conservative Ideologues Battle the Party of Inclusion

Authors

  • James Newman
  • Stephen D. Shaffer
  • David A. Breaux

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.2003.24.0.69-89

Abstract

Republican grassroots party activists in Mississippi constitute an essentially conservative, higher income, middle aged, and white male organization, which has become even more so since 1991. Democrats are a truly biracial party with equal numbers of men and women and a more middle class background, but it has become more liberal since 1991 due to the influx of more African-Americans into the organization. Compared to Republicans, Democrats have a more professional orientation geared towards winning elections rather than fighting for ideological purity, and have become increasingly active over the last decade to meet the growing GOP electoral challenge.

References

Breaux, David, Stephen Shaffer, and Thomas Wilson. 1997. Mississippi. In State Party Profiles: A 50-State Guide to Development, Organization, and Resources, eds. Andrew M. Appleton and Daniel S. Ward. Washington DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc.

Key, V.O. 1949. Southern Politics in State and Nation. New York: Knopf.

Secretary of State of Mississippi. 1993, 1997. Mississippi Official and Statistical Register, 1992-1996, 1996-2000.

Shaffer, Stephen D. 1991. Mississippi: Electoral Conflict in a Nationalized State. In The 1988 Presidential Election in the South, eds. Laurence W. Moreland, Robert P. Steed, and Tod A. Baker. New York: Praeger.

Shaffer, Stephen D. 2001. Political Parties in Modern Mississippi. In Politics in Mississippi, 2nd ed., ed. Joseph B. Parker. Salem, WI: Sheffield Publishing Company.

Shaffer, Stephen D., and David A. Breaux. 1995. Mississippi: The 'True Believers' Challenge the Party of Everyone. In Southern State Party Organizations and Activists, eds. Charles D. Hadley and Lewis Bowman. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Shaffer, Stephen D., Stacie Berry Pierce and Steven A. Kohnke. 2000. Party Realignment in the South: A Multi-Level Analysis. American Review of Politics 21:129-153.

Shaffer, Stephen D., and Byron E. Price. 2002. Mississippi: GOP Blunts Democratic Resurgence. In The 2000 Presidential Election in the South, eds. Robert P. Steed and Larry Moreland. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Shaffer, Stephen D., David E. Sturrock, David A. Breaux, and Bill Minor. 1999. Mississippi: From Pariah to Pacesetter? In Southern Politics in the 1990s, ed. Alexander P. Lamis. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

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Published

2003-04-01

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Section

Articles