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The Impacts of Social Movements on the Political Process: The Civil Rights Movement and Black
Electoral Politics in Mississippi

Author(s): Kenneth T. Andrews
Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 62, No. 5 (Oct., 1997), pp. 800-819
Published by: American Sociological Association
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THE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ON
THE POLITICAL PROCESS: THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
AND BLACK ELECTORAL POLITICS IN MISSISSIPPI*
Kenneth T. Andrews
Harvard University
In this paper, I examine the relationship between social movements and po-
litical outcomes. I begin by assessing the existing social movement literature
and identifying key areas in which further theoretical development and addi-
tional empirical research will advance current knowledge. Building on the
issues raised by this assessment, I examine the civil rights movement in Mis-
sissippifrom the period of widespread mobilization in the early 1960s through
the early 1980s. Specifically, I examine the impacts of local movements on
four political outcomes: (1) number of Black voters registered, (2) votes cast
for Black candidates in statewide elections, (3) the number of Black candi-
dates running for office in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and (4) the number
of Black elected officials. The strategies used by Whites to defeat or minimize
the impact of the movement are critical pieces of the analysis. The evidence
indicates that local movements have continued to play a central, though com-
plex, role in the transformation of local politics long after the civil rights
movement peaked. This suggests that, while mobilization plays a key role in
the short run, its long-term consequences must be considered as well.
n their review of the social movements cial movements are indirect and mediated by
literature, McAdam, McCarthy, and Zald the political process. One reason for the lim-
(1988) conclude that there is a "relatively ited body of research on social movements
underdeveloped state of knowledge about the and their outcomes is the complex theoreti-
dynamics of collective action past the emer- cal and methodological problems of mapping
gence of a movement" (p. 728). This ten- the causal links between a movement, other
dency to focus on the earliest and most vis- explanatory factors, and outcomes (for a re-
ible phase of a social movement neglects the view of the literature on outcomes, see
ongoing dynamics and long-term conse- Burstein, Einwohner, and Hollander 1995).
quences of social movements. Tarrow (1994: In this paper, I address these problems and
170) refers to the "ambiguity of social move- present an analysis of the long-term impacts
ment outcomes" because the impacts of so- of the civil rights movement on electoral
politics in Mississippi.
* Direct correspondence to Kenneth Andrews, De-
partment of Sociology, Harvard University, Cam-
bridge, MA 02138 (andrews@wjh.harvard.edu). I

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND
thank Shuva Paul, Ravinder Singh, Bob Zussman,
POLITICAL OUTCOMES
the ASR Editor and Deputy Editor, the anonymous
My aim here is to refine "political process

ASR reviewers, and especially Michael Schwartz
theory" to better understand and analyze

and Mary Vogel for their comments and critiques of
prior versions of this paper. Some of the data col-

movement outcomes. This theory distin-
lection was supported by a National Science Foun-
guishes between the internal dynamics of so-
dation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant
cial movements and the political opportunity
(SBER-9625597). This paper was presented at the
structure-the broad social, economic, and
annual meeting of the American Sociological Asso-
political dynamics that shape the opportuni-
ciation, August 1996. An earlier version received
ties and constraints for mobilization (Tilly
the 1995 award for the Best Graduate Student Paper
1978; McAdam 1982; Morris and Herring

from the ASA Collective Behavior and Social
Movement Section. 1987; Tarrow 1994). This dual focus has of-
800 American Sociological Review, 1997, Vol. 62 (October:800-8 19)
THE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 801
ten been used to examine the origins of so-

tion or the political environment is the key
cial movements or "protest cycles." .Factors causal force. A recent examination of
internal to social movements include leader-

Gamson's data shows that both environmen-
ship skills, organizational form and strength, tal factors (e.g., periods of crisis) and orga-
informal networks of activists, and links nizational factors (e.g., factionalism) predict
among social movement organizations. The the success of protest groups (Frey, Dietz,
political opportunity structure includes the and Kalof 1992). Gamson's study frames the
role of political allies and supporters, "avail- key questions for this study: Do the mobiliz-
ability of meaningful access points in the po- ing structures of social movements account
litical system, the capacity and propensity of for political outcomes? And if they do, how?
the state for repression, [and] elite fragmen- Three points are critical for expanding and
tation and conflict" (Brockett 1991: 254; also refining the analysis of social movements
see McAdam 1996 for a comparison and syn- and outcomes. These are (1) temporality, (2)
thesis of major approaches to the political resistance strategies, and (3) the selection of
opportunity structure). These internal and ex- outcomes.
ternal factors affect the impact of social
movements. The political process approach
The Importance of Timing
has great potential for the analysis of the
consequences of social movements because First, the time dimension is important in
of its dual focus on these internal dynamics measuring mobilization and outcomes. Re-
of movements and the broader dynamics of search on the relationship between social
political and economic institutions. Under- movement mobilization and political oppor-
standing of the dynamics of a social move- tunity structures has generated greater atten-
ment requires disentangling these internal tion to the question of timing within "protest
and external factors. cycles." These issues are especially salient
Gamson's The Strategy of Social Protest when studying movement outcomes in which
([1975] 1990), an influential study of the the relations among variables change over
success of U.S. social movements, draws on time. Amenta, Caruthers, and Zylan's (1992)
a sample of 53 "challenging groups" be- recent research on the Townsend movement
tween 1800 and 1945. He assessed the abil- finds that, nationally, the impact of the move-
ity of movement organizations to achieve ment on Congressional action mirrored shifts
"acceptance" (i.e., to be seen as represent- in the internal strength of the movement over
ing legitimate interests) and to gain "new the 1930s and 1940s. Yet in other cases the
advantages" (i.e., achieving the particular impact of movements may lag behind the
goals sought by the group). Gamson found peaks of mobilization, so that effects are seen
that many of the factors within a only after the movement has declined. Con-
movement's control, such as tactics, the use versely, a movement may initially generate
of violence, and organizational structure gains that subsequently are eroded (Button
played a role in determining whether a 1978; Salamon 1979; Quadagno 1994).
movement achieved its goals.1 Analyses of the outcomes of a social move-
In a reanalysis of Gamson's data, Gold- ment must plot the shifting levels of mobili-
stone (1980a, 1980b) argues that historical zation against the varying impacts of the
timing is the key factor predicting success of movement over a broad time span.
a social movement. During periods of crisis
like the Great Depression, movements are
Resistance Strategies
more likely to achieve their goals. Simplify-
ing it somewhat, the debate between Gamson A second issue in assessing movement out-
and Goldstone concerns whether mobiliza- comes is the role of resistance strategies. The
sociological analysis of repression has made
significant theoretical and empirical gains in
I For elaborations and critiques of Gamson, see
recent years. However, the implications of
Steedly and Foley (1979), Goldstone (1980a;
repression for an analysis of movement out-
1980b), and Mirowsky and Ross (1981). These
comes remain largely unexplored. The key

articles are reprinted in an appendix to the sec-
issue is sorting out the conditions under

ond edition (1990) of Gamson's study.
802 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
which repression diminishes protest and Resistance to a movement includes the
when repression "backfires," generating tactics employed by individuals, small
higher levels of mobilization. Lichbach groups, and large organizations (such as
(1987) frames the alternatives as "deterrence governments and corporations) to under-
or escalation?" In diverse movements schol- mine a movement and its goals. Case studies
ars have found nonlinear relationships be- of the civil rights movement and the labor
tween repression and protest-for example, movement suggest that movement outcomes
the Anti-Apartheid movement in South Af- can be understood only through an analysis
rica (Olivier 1991), protest against the Shah's of the efforts to subvert, undermine, or co-
policies in Iran (Rasler 1996), and anti- opt the movement (Barkan 1984; Fantasia
nuclear power movement in West Germany 1988; Parker 1990). Thus, in addition to ex-
(Opp and Roehl 1990). Notably, all of these amining the mobilization of Blacks, an as-
studies specify contexts in which repression sessment of the transformation of local and
has positive effects. Rasler (1996), analyzing state politics requires a focus on counter-
the Iranian Revolution, demonstrates how re- mobilization by Whites. These resistance
pression both deters and escalates protest. strategies include: (1) nonviolent institu-
She argues that "in the long run repression tional strategies-the mobilization of orga-
helped launch micromobization processes nizational resources to defend the power
that rapidly brought large numbers of people and privileges of members of the polity; (2)
into the streets" (Rasler 1996:143). Within violent strategies-the Puse of violence by
the face-to-face interactions of movement the state or other actors targeting the move-
networks, the legitimacy of the state and its ment and its supporters; and (3) micro-resis-
use of repressive tactics was undermined. tance- the use of intimidation in small-
The short-term effect of repression (lagged scale interactions, which often depends on
one-week) was a reduction of protest, yet the the possession of greater institutional re-
long-term effect of repression (lagged six- sources and/or implicit threats of violence.2
weeks) was an increase in the rate of protest In a study of the Mississippi legislature's
(1996:140). In a study of mobilization response to the Voting Rights Act (VRA),
among Latin American peasants, Brockett Parker (1990) describes institutional strate-
finds that whether repression "works" or fails gies in the form of legal tactics that diluted
to deter insurgency depends on timing, or the newly enfranchised Black electorate-
what he calls "the temporal location in the what he calls the "massive resistance" legis-
protest cycle" (1993:474). The relationship is lation. As Parker argues, "Black people in
curvilinear, with repression being an effec- Mississippi in 1967 were not writing on a
tive deterrent prior to the emergence of a pro- clean slate.... In large part, the white su-
test cycle and toward the end of a protest premacy politics of the white majority have
cycle. When mass protest is increasing, para- shaped post-1965 black politics" (1990:67).
doxically repression can escalate protest. In In the case of school desegregation, White
sum, the key factors in the literature on re- resistance included the unique form of estab-
pression that account for the positive impact lishing private academies as counter-institu-
of repression on protest are the micro-mobi- tions.
lization context and the temporal location in Resistance can take public and institutional
the protest cycle. forms, like the massive resistance legislation
What is the impact of repression, direct or and White-flight academies. Other forms of
indirect, on outcomes? Here, the evidence is resistance include repression as the strategic
less developed. Gamson's study (1990) is use of violence by state officials and private
one of the few to take up this question, and groups.3 In Mississippi, repression peaked in
he finds that the targets of violence are less
2 A fourth resistance strategy is the articulation
likely to win "new advantages" or "accep-
of a counter-frame to delegitimate the movement
tance." This is another paradox involving the
or its goals.
role of violence against social movements.
3 The distinction between violence used by
Repression can, and often does, escalate pro-
Mississippi state officials and private citizens is
test, yet repression can also undermine the
difficult to draw. The individuals directly respon-
"success" of movements.
sible for the murders of James Chaney, Mickey
the mid-1960s with enormous levels of ha- Selection of Movement Outcomes
rassment, assault, bombings, and murder
(Colby 1987). A third issue is the choice of outcome(s) to
Illustrating micro-resistance, Loewen study and how to measure them. The optimal
(1981) describes the intimidation that can be strategy is to use multiple indicators at dif-
exercised at polling places: ferent points in time. In a methodological
discussion of research on the impacts of ri-
A 55 year-old black woman with four years of
ots, Snyder and Kelly (1979) observe:
education forty years ago hesitantly lines up at
a voting machine .... The poll watcher asks
This "single-outcome-as-goal" model also
"May I help you, Ma'am" and pulls the lever.
characterizes all quantitative studies of the con-
He is then inside the booth with the voter. Be-
sequences of protest or violence.... In fact,
cause the ballot is set up alphabetically by
movement organizations (as do all groups) rou-
candidate's last name, rather than by party, the
tinely experience relative success or failure on
voter has to recall twenty names for whom she
various dimensions as a consequence of their
wishes to vote. "Do you want to vote for
everyday activities. (Pp. 218-19)
Evers?" he asks. Surprised by his fairness, she
agrees. The poll worker knows that Evers has
Button's (1989) study of the civil rights
no chance statewide; what matters are the local
movement in six Florida communities is in-
races. He then asks, "Do you want X for sher-
structive here. He selects a wide range of
iff?" mentioning the white incumbent.... The
outcomes in the public and private sector
effectiveness of such intimidating "assistance"
which allows him to examine variation
is confirmed by quantitative comparisons. (Pp.
among towns and among outcomes. He ar-

36-37)
gues that "at the local level the civil rights
The case Loewen describes above took place movement did not evoke a unilinear process
in 1971, six years after the passage of the of change" (Button 1989:21 1). This insight
Voting Rights Act (VRA). He shows that by that movements are neither monolithic nor
"skimming" a small percentage of the Black uniform in their distribution, strength, or im-
vote in majority-Black voting districts, pact opens up new areas for exploring the
White poll watchers contributed to disap- outcomes that movements generate.4 The
pointing outcomes for Black candidates failure to separate movement goals and out-
statewide (also see U.S. Commission on comes becomes problematic when it does not
Civil Rights 1968, 1975, 1981; Salamon allow for the unintended consequences of so-
1972; Berry 1973). These processes of mi- cial movements (Paul, Mahler, and Schwartz
cro-resistance are critical for understanding 1997). Establishing whether a movement
the impacts of social movements, and al- achieves its explicitly stated goals is impor-
though they are difficult to measure they tant, but to understand the consequences of
should receive theoretical consideration. I movements, the researcher must dig deeper
analyze the changing impact of repression as because social movements often have mul-
well as the broader use of legal and quasi- tiple and changing goals as well as unin-
legal resistance to the civil rights movement. tended consequences.
Many claims have been made about the
impact of the civil rights movement on U.S.
Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman included
society and politics, making the legacy of the
members of local Ku Klux Klan organizations
movement contested and ambiguous. Nearly
and the local police (Cagin and Dray 1988). In
unquestioned is the attribution to the move-

the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commit-
tee's (SNCC) first voter registration, Herbert Lee,
4 Much of the research on the impact of the

a local NAACP member, was murdered in public
civil rights movement, especially its impact on

in the daytime by a member of the state legisla-
electoral politics, supports Button's claim (see

ture (Dittmer 1985). The Sovereignty Commis-
Davidson and Grofman 1994). Also, research on

sion, a state organization that monitored, infil-
the Townsend movement shows regional varia-

trated, and disrupted the movement, worked
tions in mobilization and impact on old-age poli-

closely with and subsidized the Citizens' Coun-
cies (Amenta et al. 1992), as does Katzenstein's

cils (McMillen 1971). These examples under-
(1987) essay on women's movements in the

score how state-sponsored resistance and private
United States and Europe.

resistance were intertwined.
ment of major federal initiatives, such as the sippi in 1961 (Zinn 1965; Moses 1970).
Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights SNCC's goals included the development of
Act, and the War on Poverty. Others have at- a grassroots infrastructure that would sus-
tributed changes in attitudes toward race and tain the movement over the long haul. Be-
politics to the efforts of the civil rights move- tween 1961 and 1963, SNCC initiated
ment. Further, the emergence of the student projects in a handful of communities. SNCC
antiwar movement and the women's move- field workers combined the broader goal of
ment have been attributed to the networks developing grassroots leadership with the
and tactical repertoires of the southern civil more immediate goal of voter registration-
rights movement (Evans 1980; McAdam a goal that often led to other goals, like lit-
1988). eracy courses and the alleviation of poverty.
In this study, I shift the focus from the na- In 1963, the Council of Federated Organiza-
tional arena to small communities in the tions (COFO), an umbrella organization of
South that experienced unprecedented levels the major civil rights organizations working
of mobilization during the 1960s. As James in Mississippi, organized Freedom Vote, a
(1988) notes, "[T]heories that focus on the mock election to symbolically demonstrate
national state cannot explain the enormous the efforts of Black Mississippians to par-
historical variation in the local implementa- ticipate in electoral politics (Sinsheimer
tion of national policies" (p. 191). I examine 1989). The Mississippi movement dramati-
the impacts of local mobilization on subse- cally escalated the pace of mobilization in
quent political transformations. Each of the 1964 by recruiting college students, prima-
analytic points raised above is embedded in rily White and middle-class, from across the
my research design. country to work in community projects
throughout the state (see, for example, Har-
ris 1982; McAdam 1988; Mills 1992; Mills
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
1993).
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Following Freedom Summer, COFO and
IN MISSISSIPPI
the newly formed Mississippi Freedom
In the early phases of the civil rights move- Democratic Party (MFDP) led an effort to
ment (1954-1960), mobilization was con- unseat the all-White Mississippi delegation
centrated in urban areas and in the states of to the Democratic Party's 1964 National
the upper South. By 1960, one of the major Convention in Atlantic City. The Credentials
effects of the civil rights movement in Mis- Committee failed to support the civil rights
sissippi was the mobilization of White reac- challenge, and the COFO delegation refused
tion. By June of 1956, two years after the to accept the compromise offered by the
Brown decision, the Citizens' Council-an Democratic Party of two at-large seats for
organization founded in Indianola, Missis- Aaron Henry and Ed King. The conflict
sippi and composed of middle-class and elite over whether to accept the compromise
White Southerners-could boast local orga- crystallized a long-standing rift within the
nizations in 65 of Mississippi's 82 counties Mississippi movement between a moderate
(Citizens' Councils of America 1956:6). NAACP-led wing and a more radical
While a small cadre of NAACP workers led MFDP- and SNCC-led wing of the move-
by Medgar Evers had laid groundwork, most ment (see Romaine 1970; McLemore 1971;
observers and the major civil rights organi- Carson 1981).
zations believed that further progress was The Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965,
needed elsewhere before serious efforts shifted the political context for voter regis-
could be made to mobilize the Black com- tration work in Mississippi. While discrimi-
munity in Mississippi (see Dittmer 1985, natory practices in voter registration have
1994; McMillen 1989; Payne 1995). been documented after 1965, registrars were
Mississippi's peripheral status in the de- severely restrained, as a cursory look at voter
velopment of the civil rights movement registration data show (see Table 1). No-
changed when the Student Nonviolent Coor- where is this situation more apparent than in
dinating Committee (SNCC), led by Bob Mississippi. The major problem that faced
Moses, began developing projects in Missis- the movement in the electoral arena after
Table 1. Estimated Percentages of Black Adults Registered to Vote, by Year
State 1964 1966 1969 1976 1982
Mississippi 6.7 32.9 66.5 67.4 75.8
All southern states 31.4 46.8 64.8 59.3 57.7
Sources: Lawson (1976, 1985).
1965 was not registering voters but electing trusted White turned out a 3-to-i margin in
Black candidates to office.5 favor of Black candidates (Salamon 1972). If
Electing Black candidates in Mississippi these strategies were not enough to diminish
was much more complicated than it appeared Black electoral strength, the time-tested tac-
(Parker 1990). An array of resistance mecha- tics of violence and economic intimidation
nisms implemented after passage of the VRA continued through the 1970s. The present
has impeded officeholding by Blacks to the study assesses the impact of these tactics and
present day. These forms of resistance are examines the consequences of the movement
generally referred to as "vote dilution tac- and of White resistance in post-1965 Missis-
tics" and include redistricting, discrimina- sippi electoral politics.
tory qualifications for Black candidates,
purging of voter registration records, and
DATA AND METHODS
switching from elective offices to appointive
offices (Davidson 1984). Legal resistance For this study, counties in Mississippi are the
was effective in minimizing the gains of the units of analysis (N = 81).6 The data are clus-
Black movement at three levels: (1) by limit- tered in eight groups of variables: (1) the
ing the number of Black elected officials for civil rights movement, (2) the countermove-
the period during which the movement dis- ment, (3) voter registration, (4) federal par-
mantled "vote dilution" mechanisms through ticipation in voter registration, (5) the num-
the courts; (2) by transferring political power ber of Black candidates running for office,
from local elected positions to other arenas (6) Black voter turnout, (7) Black elected of-
such as the state legislature or appointive officials, and (8) demographic and social char-
fices; and 3) through Black outmigration, ex- acteristics of the counties. The data were
acerbated by increased mechanization of drawn from a range of sources, including ar-
farming. The Black population declined as a chival collections, government documents,
proportion of the total while the dismantling and other published documents. Appendix A
of legal resistance took place, leaving the describes the variables and their data
Black electorate in a relatively weaker posi- sources.
tion in 1980 compared to 1965, even though Mississippi is well suited for a study of the
a higher proportion of Blacks was registered consequences of the civil rights movement in
in 1980. In short, the "massive resistance" the South. It is an important case for under-
legislation effectively limited the political standing the history of race in the United
power of Blacks. States. Also, the state shows significant
In addition to confronting these barriers, variation on key variables, which permits
Blacks in Mississippi faced manipulation and careful generalization to the civil rights
intimidation at polling places. In the 1971
statewide elections, in the majority-Black 6 Hinds County (Jackson) is omitted from the
analyses for two major reasons. As it includes the

town of Shelby voting machines adminis-
capital of Mississippi, the county population far
tered by Whites perceived as hostile to the
exceeds that of other counties. Second, Jackson
Black community cast votes 5-to-3 against
served as the statewide base for COFO; thus,
Black candidates. A booth administered by a
measures of mobilization reflect resources de-
voted to local organizing and to the statewide co-
5 In addition to electoral issues, the movement ordination of organizing. I am only interested in
shifted attention to other areas, especially poverty local infrastructures that cannot in Hinds County
programs and public school desegregation and be easily distinguished from the state-level infra-
funding. structure.
movement in other parts of the South. How- aminers) on Black political participation? I
ever, Mississippi's "exceptionalism" should assess the relative importance of federal en-
be noted. The coordination of a statewide forcement and local organizing for explain-
movement in the early 1960s and the wide ing increases in Black political participation.
array of strategies pursued by the movement (4) What were the effects of underlying so-
make the Mississippi case unique. In most cial structural factors on the level of mobili-
other Southern states the movement worked zation and outcomes? For example, both the
on a city-by-city basis rather than coordinat- level of movement organizing and the level
ing and confronting racial inequality state- of electoral participation may be shaped by
wide as it did in Mississippi.7 In terms of the urbanization.
available data this is a clear advantage be- I use OLS regression and path analysis to
cause it means that comparable evidence can examine the impacts of independent vari-
be used to examine varying levels of mobili- ables on Black political participation and
zation across the state. Also, the strategies Black officeholding. Throughout the analy-
used to resist the civil rights movement in sis, I present standardized regression coeffi-
Mississippi were more intense and more var- cients to compare the relative sizes of ef-
ied than in other states. fects. First, I use the Freedom Vote of 1964
as a dependent variable to estimate the rela-
tive short-term impacts of mobilization and
ANALYSIS
countermobilization. What are the charac-
Prior research by historians and political sci- teristics of the counties in which COFO was
entists on the Mississippi civil rights move- most successful in mobilizing the Black
ment and the sociological literature on move- community to participate in electoral pro-
ment outcomes leads me to address several test? I then turn to four other groups of out-
unresolved debates (Salamon and Van Evera comes: (1) voter registration, (2) voter turn-
1973; Colby 1986; Stewart and Sheffield out, and (3) Black candidates running for
1987). office and (4) the election of Black officials.
(1) What was the role of the civil rights
movements in shaping the level of Black po-
The Contours of Mobilization before 1965
litical participation and Black officeholding
after the Voting Rights Act? The goal of the In the early period of mobilization (1961-
early movement was to develop a local 1965), was the movement active in particular
movement infrastructure that could pursue parts of the state, and if so, what were the
the interests of the local Black community. I characteristics of those areas? SNCC's early
assess the extent to which a movement infra- work focused on the larger cities like Jack-
structure was generated and the extent to son and Hattiesburg and on counties in the
which that infrastructure generated later po- "Black Belt"-the region of the South com-
litical participation. posed of counties with relatively large Black
I (2) What were the effects of repression on populations and single-crop agricultural
mobilization and outcomes? I assess the con- bases. The Black Belt counties in Mississippi
ditions under which repression "works" and are in the Delta, the northwestern region of
when it "backfires." I focus on the effects of the state, plus several counties in the south-
violence by Whites on outcomes. I also spe- western part of the state.
cify the impacts of resistance on different Was there systematic variation in the abil-
outcomes and at different points in time. ity of the movement to mobilize the local
(3) What were the effects of federal inter- community (measured by Freedom Votes cast
vention (through the presence of federal ex- in 1964)? The Freedom Vote, a mock elec-
tion organized within the Black community,
assesses the effectiveness of the movement
7 The Southern Christian Leadership Con-
on its own terms.8
ference's (SCLC) strategy reflected this pattern
by focusing on particular cities, for example, Bir-
mingham, Selma, and Chicago. SNCC's work 8 The 1964 Freedom Vote was the second
outside of Mississippi also focused on single "mock" election. The 1963 Freedom Vote was for
towns rather than on entire states. the offices of governor and lieutenant governor.
Table 2. Coefficients from OLS Regression of

Table 2, which uses the number of Free-
the Number of Freedom Votes Cast in
dom Votes cast as the dependent variable,
1964 on Selected Independent Vari-
shows a significant positive effect of mobili-
ables: 81 Mississippi Counties
zation (the number of Freedom Summer
volunteers and staff) and a significant posi-
Independent Variable Coefficient (S.E.)
tive effect of countermobilization (the num-
Number of Freedom .205*
ber of physical attacks on civil rights work-
Summer volunteers [17.331] (8.419)
ers during Freedom Summer).9 Not surpris-
Resistance to Freedom .434***
ingly, counties with more Freedom Summer
Summer (physical attacks/ [283.515] (53.751)
volunteers turned out higher numbers of
assaults)
Freedom Votes. More interesting is the rela-
Number of Blacks registered .060
tionship between resistance to Freedom
to vote, 1960 [.118] (.167)
Summer and Freedom Votes: The model was
Black voting-age population, .229*
run with three different indicators of
1960 [.061] (.027)
counter-resistance (harassment, attacks, and
Percent urban, 1960 .118

arrests), and each had a positive and statisti-
[5.628] (3.710)
cally significant effect.
So, rather than diminishing the efforts of

Constant
[-34.648] (111.140)
civil rights activists, resistance escalated the
confrontation and broadened the level of mo-
R 2 .759
bilization in the early 1960s. While this
Adjusted R2 .743
analysis shows that violent resistance can
Note: Unstandardized coefficients are in brackets;
have the unintended effect of escalating mo-
standard errors are in parentheses.
bilization within a relatively short time-
p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .001 (one-tailed tests)
frame, these results should be interpreted
carefully. The period from June 1964, when
Blacks, no longer feeling so alone and in some

Freedom Summer began, to November 1964,
cases no longer fearing that there was much

when Freedom ballots were cast, was an ex-
that could be done to them anyway, reacted to
ceptional period-it combined high levels of
each additional act of intimidation by becom-
national media attention with the most exten-
ing more aggressive themselves. (Pp. 201-202)
sive mass mobilization for civil rights in the
history of Mississippi. Payne's (1995) study The finding here generally supports other
provides insight into how this escalation of analyses of the effects of repression in terms
Black mobilization and White violence inter- of the positive effects of repression on pro-
acted at the local level. test (Opp and Roehl 1990; Brockett 1993;
Rasler 1996). Payne's analysis of the Green-
[I]n the spring of 1963, those whites desper-
wood movement also supports the argument
ately opposed to the movement were slow to
that the micromobilization context includes

understand that the calculus of repression had
intervening processes that explain the effects

changed. They had now entered a situation in
which a significant number of Greenwood of repression and the subsequent escalation
of protest. Finally, as Brockett (1993) pre-
dicts, violence visited upon the movement
The 1964 Freedom Vote was for offices in the
during Freedom Summer, a high point of
U.S. House of Representatives and formed part
mobilization, only increased collective ac-

of the evidentiary base for the Mississippi Free-
dom Democratic Party's (MFDP) challenge to the tion in the fall. However, over a longer time-
seating of the White candidates elected in the

frame and without constant media attention,
"regular" election.
a different pattern emerges.
9 Because countermobilization measures were
limited to counties where COFO operated
projects, I also ran the regression analysis on two Voter Registration
different samples: counties with Freedom Sum-
Voter registration soared following the pas-
mer projects (N = 29); and counties in which
sage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The
Freedom Votes were cast (N = 56). Although the
impact of the legislation has often been de-

magnitude of the effects shifted slightly, the rela-
tive effects were unchanged. bated, and the role of federal examiners,
Table 3. Coefficients from OLS Regression of Three Measures of Black Electoral Mobilization on
Selected Independent Variables: 81 Mississippi Counties
Voter Registration 1967 Whitley 1966 Evers 1971
Independent Variable Coefficient (S.E.) Coefficient (S.E.) Coefficient (S.E.)
Number of Freedom .358*** .229* -.003
Summer volunteers [51.339] (14.299) [14.864] (6.800) [-.344] (7.379)
Number of NAACP .135* .138* .191***
members, 1966 (log) [98.800] (55.678) [45.595] (26.478) [110.632] (28.734)
Violent resistance .100 .115 .022
index, 1960-1969a [15.914] (12.874) [8.235] (6.122) [2.825] (6.644)
Federal examiners .119* .246*** .054
present [437.704] (257.553) [408.363] (122.479) [158.858] (132.915)
Black voting-age .400*** .423*** .796***
population, 1970 [.190] (.055) [.091] (.026) [.301] (.028)
Percent urban, 1970 -.066 -.050 .019
[-5.278] (6.960) [-1.785] (3.310) [1.228] (3.592)
Constant
[500.937]* (233.035) [-61.768] (110.819) [149.620] (120.262)
R 2 .683 .649 .867
Adjusted R2 .657 .621 .856
Note: Unstandardized coefficients are in brackets; standard errors are in parentheses.
a Although the index covers the period 1960-1969, only 2 incidents out of 657 occurred after 1966.
* < .05 **p< .01 *** < .001 (one-tailed tests)
sometimes referred to as federal registrars, Commission on Civil Rights 1965, 1968:
has attracted particular attention. Colby 244-47).
(1986) finds a positive impact of federal in-

Table 3 examines the impact of federal
tervention on Black voter registration rates. examiners, mobilization, and resistance on
Jones (1976) emphasizes the limited enforce- increases in the registration of Black voters.
ment efforts of the Justice Department and

A new measure of mobilization, 1966 mem-
notes that Mississippi was the only state to bership in the NAACP, measures the
receive "significant federal examining activ- strength of the local movement after the
ity" (p. 385). Despite a brief influx of exam-

passage of the VRA.10 Voter registration is
iners between 1965 and 1967, only two ex- measured as the total number of Blacks reg-
aminers were sent to Mississippi between istered to vote in 1967. The size of the
1967 and 1976 (Jones 1976: 385). Political

Black voting-age population is included as a
scientists have held opposing points of view control variable.
on the short-term and long-term significance The Voter Education Project research in the
of federal examiners for Black political par-

1960s showed that federal registrars had the
ticipation. largest impact on Black registration rates, fol-
Federal examiners usually were sent to lowed by civil rights movement organizations
counties known for discrimination against

(cited in Black and Black 1987:135). Table 3
Black voters, and often were sent to counties

shows a greater effect for local organizing
that had experienced movement activity, or
10 The NAACP variable is logged because it is
had previously been investigated by Justice
highly skewed with a small number of outliers.
Department officials. Counties in the Deep
For example, Claiborne County has 1,316
South were the target of the vast majority of
NAACP members, whereas the mean for the state
federal examiners, with Mississippi receiving

is 89.7. The unlogged variable, however, gives
examiners in 31 counties by 1967 (U.S. substantially similar results.
than for examiners.11 Most significantly, I Extensive research has documented the per-
find that the number of Freedom Summer or- sistence of "racial bloc voting" or "racially
ganizers and NAACP membership are better polarized voting" throughout the South and
predictors of Black voter registration (using in major cities (Loewen 1990).14 Here, I as-
the standardized coefficient as the criterion) sume that only Blacks voted for Whitley and
than is the presence of federal registrars- Evers. Undoubtedly, some Blacks voted for
Freedom Summer volunteers is by far the White candidates. For example, some White
more powerful predictor. These findings sug- poll watchers or employers manipulated
gest that the resources (Freedom Summer Blacks to vote for White candidates, but sys-
staff and volunteers) and results (NAACP tematic data on such manipulation of the
membership) of the early period of organiz- Black vote is not available by county
ing were primary factors in shaping higher (Salamon 1972; Berry 1973; Loewen 1981).
levels of voter mobilization after the VRA. Moreover, the number of votes cast for Black
In the next three sections I examine other candidates is a useful indicator of Black elec-
forms of Black political participation that toral strength because it suggests the degree
have received less attention. Voter registra- to which the votes of Black citizens can be
tion is an intermediate outcome because it effectively marshaled in support of state-
does not indicate particular gains made by level Black candidates.
the Black community-it only indicates the Like voter registration, voter turnout for
activation of that community toward achiev- these statewide elections is examined in terms
ing other goals.12 of the impact of the civil rights movement,
the presence of federal registrars, and other
variables (see Table 3). The pattern of coeffi-
Electoral Mobilization:
cients for the Whitley campaign resembles
Black Candidates for Statewide Office
those found for voter registration in 1967.
As indicators of electoral mobilization, I use The civil rights movement (number of Free-
votes cast for two Black candidates in their dom Summer volunteers and NAACP mem-
campaigns for statewide office-Clifton bership) and federal examiners have signifi-
Whitley in 1966 and Charles Evers in 1971.13 cant positive effects on the number of votes
cast for Whitley. In fact, the presence of ex-
aminers has a slightly greater effect than the
II I measure the presence of federal examiners
number of Freedom Summer volunteers. The
in the counties. Federal examiners provided a par-
effects of Freedom Summer volunteers and
allel registration process that was intended to
federal examiners are not statistically signifi-
eliminate discrimination. Researchers have used
cant in the Evers campaign of 1971.

the total number of Blacks registered by federal
The Evers campaign for governor in 1971

examiners as an indicator of the effectiveness of
examiners. This conflates the outcome (number

differs from the Whitley campaign in that
of registered Blacks) with the facilitative role
the movement base that was present in the
played by examiners and overestimates the effect
early 1960s (Freedom Summer volunteers)
of examiners.
does not play a significant role. However,
12 Another reason for examining other outcome
NAACP membership, which measures mid
measures is that the number of voters registered
to late 1960s strength of the movement, has
can be an unreliable measure of political partici-
a significant positive effect. Black political
pation. Voter registration records are not kept by
mobilization in Mississippi did not follow a

race, so the data used are estimates made by local
registrars or self-reported in Census data. Even linear path through the late 1960s and
aggregate data on voter registration tend to be in-

1970s, underscoring the need for multiple
accurate because registrars fail to purge records
on a regular basis for deaths, migration, and an average of the two as an indicator of Black
felony convictions (Lichtman and Issacharoff electoral mobilization in the mid-1960s.
14 "Racial bloc voting" refers to the tendency

1991).
13 Clifton Whitley ran for the Senate against for Whites to vote for White candidates and for
James Eastland in the Democratic primary in Au- Blacks to vote for Black candidates. In legal cases
gust 1966, and in the general election as an inde- concerning discriminatory redistricting, research
pendent candidate. Voter turnout in these two on racial bloc voting has established the discrimi-
elections is highly correlated (r = .80), so I use natory effect of at-large election systems.
Table 4. Coefficients from OLS Regression of the Number of Black Candidates Running for Office
on Selected Independent Variables in 1967 and 1971: 81 Mississippi Counties
1967 1971
Independent Variable Coefficient (S.E.) Coefficient (S.E.)
Number of Freedom Summer .369*** .342***
volunteers [.081] (.022) [.161] (.046)
Number of NAACP members, .159* .193**
1966 (log) [.177] (.098) [.461] (.208)
Violent resistance index, -.192* -.21 1**
1960-1969 [-.047] (.022) [-.110] (.047)
Federal examiners present -.091 -.017
[-.510] (.508) [-.209] (1.075)
Percent voting for Whitley, 1966 .372*** .013
[9.294] (2.262) [.676] (4.785)
Percentage of Blacks in voting-age .371*** .577***
population, 1970 [6.119] (1.484) [20.351] (3.139)
Percent urban, 1970 -.061 .D12
[-.007] (.011) [.003] (.024)
Constant
[-2.081]*** (.609) [-4.643]*** (1.288)
R 2 .596 .606
Adjusted R2 .558 .568
*p < .05 ** < .01 *** < .001 (one-tailed tests)
measures of outcomes. As mayor of Fayette

on the massive gains in registered voters and
in Jefferson County, Evers's political

make significant gains in officeholding. Over
strength was concentrated in several major-

100 Black candidates ran for office in 26
ity-Black counties in southwest Mississippi

counties, with 22 candidates winning office
(e.g., Claiborne, Wilkinson, Jefferson) that

in the November general election. While the
had experienced little civil rights activity

victories were important, they were also dis-
from 1961 to 1965 (Berry 1973; Dittmer

appointing, leading Parker (1990) to con-
1994).15 While the electoral successes of

clude that ". . . the 1967 election results were
these counties have continued at the local

a substantial victory for Mississippi's mas-
level, these counties represent a different

sive resistance to Black political participa-
pattern of mobilization than that found in

tion" (p. 73). In which counties were Blacks
pre-1965 movement counties.

most likely to launch campaigns for state and
local office? The development of an electoral
politics infrastructure-measured by the
The Development of an Electoral
number of Black candidates in 1967 and
Mobilization Infrastructure
1971-is an intermediate outcome. In the
The 1967 county and state elections in Mis-

next section I investigate the impact of this
sissippi were widely viewed as the first op-

early infrastructure on the subsequent elec-
portunity for Black Mississippians to build

tion of Black candidates to office.
Table 4 presents the results of a regression
15 These three counties had no Freedom Sum-
analysis predicting the number of Black
mer volunteers or staff. By 1966, Claiborne
candidates running for office in 1967 and
County had 1,316 adult NAACP members;
1971. The percentage of Blacks in the vot-
Jefferson County had 924, and Wilkinson County
ing-age population replaces the size of the
had 889.
voting-age population.16 A measure of

1990). However, from the mid-1970s on, sig-
Black voter turnout for Whitley in 1966 is nificant gains were made in electing Black
included as an indicator of mass participa-

candidates to office. My analysis therefore
tion in electoral politics immediately after uses the number of county-level Black
passage of the VRA. elected officials in 1974, 1979 and 1984 as
The presence of federal examiners has no dependent variables. Statewide, in 1974 there
significant impact on the number of Blacks were 49 county-level Black elected officials
running for office. However, both the number statewide; the figures are 99 and 132 for
of Freedom Summer volunteers and the num- 1979 and 1984, respectively. ' 7
ber of NAACP members have significant Studies of Black politics in the South have
positive effects, and violent resistance has a found a consistent relationship between the
significant negative effect. The statistical percentage of the population that is Black
nonsignificance of federal examiners is sur- and the number of Black elected officials. In
prising from a political process perspective electing Black candidates to office, the racial
because the presence of examiners should in- distribution of the population plays an over-
dicate a greater "openness" of the polity. whelming role. Parker (1990) suggests a "65-
However, another dimension of the political percent rule": A population at least 65 per-
opportunity structure is the use of repression cent Black is required to elect Black candi-
by elites and other actors. Here the use of vio- dates consistently. "[AIII of the black county
lence by local Whites decreases the number supervisors who have won office have been
of Black candidates for office. In short, re- elected from majority-black districts, most of
pression hampers the development of the in- them 65 percent black or more" (p. 159). A
frastructure used to launch local campaigns. number of counties with strong organiza-
The positive effects of Freedom Summer tional bases have faced structural blocks pro-
volunteers and the NAACP membership hibiting them from translating those organi-
clearly indicate the transformation of a social zational bases into electoral representation,
movement infrastructure into an electoral leaving blacks "in districts with a black
mobilization infrastructure at the local level. population of less than 65 percent . . . dra-
matically underrepresented" (Parker, Colby,
and Morrison 1994:1I44).
Black Elected Officials
Table 5 presents the results from three
The last set of regression models examines separate regression equations predicting the
the election of Black candidates to office. number of county-level Black elected offi-
Voter registration drives and voter turnout in cials. Among the independent variables, I
statewide elections were mobilization tactics now include a measure of electoral mobiliza-
directed toward electing candidates who tion in the late 1960s-the number of Black
would better represent the interests of Black candidates running for office in 1967.18
Mississippians. The best indicator of success NAACP membership has a statistically sig-
in this arena is the election of Black candi- nificant and positive effect on the number of
dates to office. These regression equations county-level Black elected officials in 1979
characterize those counties in which Blacks
were able to elect officials. The 1967 and
17 Litigation postponed some of the 1983
1971 elections were held well before the ma-
county supervisor elections (Parker 1990:157).
jor components of the "massive resistance"

The results of those elections are not reported in
legislation were dismantled by the courts and

the National Roster of Black Elected Officials for
by Justice Department intervention (Parker 1984, and they are excluded from this analysis.
18 To maintain consistency across the different
16 These two variables cannot be entered in the models, I use the 1970 measures for percent ur-
same equation without generating multi- ban and percentage of Blacks in the voting-age
collinearity. In Tables 2 and 3, the dependent population in all of the remaining models, includ-
variables require a control for the absolute size of ing the path analysis. Using 1980 measures of
the Black electorate. In Tables 4 and 5, the de- these variables produces nearly identical effects.
pendent variables (Black candidates and Black For example, the correlation between the 1970
officials) require a control for the relative size of and 1980 Black voting-age population is greater
the Black electorate. than .98.
Table 5. Coefficients from OLS Regression of the Number of County-Level Black Elected Officials in
1974, 1979, and 1984 on Selected Independent Variables: 81 Mississippi Counties
1974 1979 1984
Independent Variable Coefficient (S.E.) Coefficient (S.E.) Coefficient (S.E.)
Number of Freedom -.065 -.174 -.109
Summer volunteers [-.009] (.013) [-.048] (.027) [-.030] (.028)
Number of NAACP .126 .188** .217**
members, 1966 (log) [.090] (.056) [.263] (.117) [.299] (.119)
Violent resistance -.211 ** -.190* -.188*
index, 1960-1969 [-.033] (.013) [-.058] (.027) [-.056] (.027)
Federal examiners present -.021 -.050 .057
[-.078] (.287) [-.348] (.596) [.393] (.605)
Number of Black .523*** .479*** .346***
candidates, 1967 [.338] (.066) [.597] (.136) [.426] (.138)
Percent vote for .248** .194* .133
Whitley, 1966 [4.001] (1.406) [6.055] (2.922) [4.089] (2.970)
Percentage of Blacks in .220** .287*** .374***
voting-age popula- [2.340] (.923) [5.908] (1.918) [7.585] (1.949)
tion, 1970
Percent urban, 1970 .056 .043 .056
[.004] (.006) [.006] (.013) [.008] (.014)
Constant
[-1.195]*** (.367) [-2.320]** (.763) [-2.573]** (.776)
R 2 .701 .654 .633
Adjusted R2 .667 .615 .592
p < .05 ** < .01 *** < .001 (one-tailed tests)
and 1984, while percent voting for Whitley in mer projects. A reanalysis of the three equa-
1966 has a positive effect in 1974 and 1979. tions excluding Jefferson and Claiborne
The relative size of the Black voting-age Counties provided similar results: The num-
population has a significant positive effect on ber of Freedom Summer volunteers has a
the number of Black elected officials in all positive, but still nonsignificant coeffiecient.
three models. The index of White violent re- These counties are retained in all models be-
sistance has a significant and negative impact cause empirical analyses omitting these
on the number of county-level Black elected counties generate the same substantive con-
officials for all three years. Percent urban and clusions. However, the discussion here con-
the presence of federal examiners have no firms that there was no single linear path
significant impacts on the number of Black leading to the election of Black candidates.
elected officials for any of these years. The analyses presented in Tables 5 suggest
The negative though nonsignificant coeffi- that violent resistance by Whites discouraged
cient for Freedom Summer results from the the election of Blacks to office. This relation-
disproportionate impact of the southwest ship contrasts with the positive impact of
"Evers" counties (especially Jefferson and violent resistance on the number of Freedom
Claiborne Counties). These counties can be Votes cast in 1964. Over a long time-frame,
treated as outliers because of the large re- violent resistance diminishes the acquisition
siduals for each county. These are the only of political power by Blacks. Here, the im-
two counties in which the majority of portance of including a time dimension and
county-level offices are held by Blacks in the use of multiple outcome measures is con-
1984 even though they had no Freedom Sum- firmed.
Refining the Links between Movements effects through NAACP membership are
and Outcomes Freedom Summer and percentage of Blacks
in the voting-age population. Violent resis-
This final segment of the analysis builds on tance is impacted positively by Freedom
the prior linear regression equations to Summer volunteers and percent urban.20 Fi-
present a path analysis of the final dependent nally, the number of Freedom Summer vol-
variable-the number of Black elected offi- unteers is positively effected by both exog-
cials in 1984. Previous models referred only enous variables (percent urban and the per-
to direct effects; path analysis allows for a centage of Blacks in the voting-age popula-
consideration of direct and indirect effects, tion).
thus providing a better model of the underly- The path analysis demonstrates that the
ing causal processes. In addition, the path number of Black candidates in 1967 is a key
diagram summarizes key points that emerged intervening variable transmitting the effects
in the earlier models such as the transforma- of the movement base created in the pre- and
tion of the movement infrastructure to an post-VRA period (Freedom Summer volun-
electoral mobilization infrastructure in the teers in 1964 and NAACP membership in
1967 elections, and the role played by repres- 1966) to later Black electoral success. The
sion in diminishing the acquisition of politi- model specifies the transformation of the
cal power. early movement base, which produces an in-
Figure 1 presents the results of the path frastructure prepared to take advantage of
analysis. 19 The path model includes the num- new opportunities that emerge in the 1970s
ber of Black candidates for office in 1967 as and 1980s. The effect of the number of Free-
an indicator of the electoral base in a county dom Summer volunteers is mediated by
after passage of the VRA. Numbers on paths NAACP membership and the number of
are standardized coefficients. The strongest Black candidates, while NAACP member-
direct effect on the number of Black elected ship has a direct and an indirect effect
officials is the relative size of the Black vot- through the number of Black candidates.
ing-age population, followed closely by the This suggests that one of the ways that so-
number of Black candidates for office in cial movements generate social change is by
1967. NAACP membership has a direct posi- producing local organizations and networks.
tive effect, while the violent resistance index I call this cluster of organizations and net-
has a direct negative effect on the number of works the electoral mobilization infrastruc-
county-level Black elected officials. Indirect ture.21 In Mississippi, the civil rights move-
effects mediated by the number of Black can- ment generated an independent structure by
didates in 1967 (in order of strength deter- the late 1960s that was positioned to take ad-
mined by the path coefficients) are the per- vantage of opportunities opening up in the
centage of Blacks in the voting-age popula- 1970s and 1980s. In addition, repression has
tion, Freedom Summer volunteers, NAACP negative direct and indirect effects on the
membership, and violent resistance. Indirect number of Black elected officials. Once
again, the number of Black candidates in
1967 mediates the relationship between vio-
19 The path coefficients were determined by a
lent resistance by Whites and the number of
reanalysis using only statistically significant vari-
Black elected officials. Thus, one of the ways
ables. As in Table 5, the number of Black candi-
dates in 1967 is used in the path analysis to em-
phasize this early point in the development of the 20 The percentage of Blacks in the voting-age
electoral infrastructure. I treat the number of population does not have a direct effect on the
Freedom Summer volunteers as an independent violent resistance index-the relationship is cur-
variable in relation to the violent resistance index vilinear.
even though some of the violence occurred be- 21 The electoral mobilization infrastructure re-
fore Freedom Summer. This decision is based on sembles the idea of "abeyance structures" ad-
the observation that violence often occurred in vanced by Taylor (1989) to refer to the organiza-
response to movement activity. Colby (1987) tions that link two periods of mass mobilization
makes a similar decision, treating an index of (1989). However, electoral infrastructures link
civil rights activity as an independent variable widespread mobilization to later success in elec-
predicting violence by Whites (1987). toral politics.
cJ ~ ~ wo
0 $--I M lr-- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~"
0~~~~~~~~0
0 ~~~~~~~~~~~0~
ce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,
CM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0
.0 co~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
z E~~~~~~~~~~~~~
c~
f~~~~~~~~~~~~s
14 0
(DC:0
oct c~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 0~~~~)c
U)
0) ,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
L- m~~~~~~~~~~~~
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
C~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~C
0~~~~ ~0~
repression "works" is by reducing the num- violent protesters in Selma being brutalized
ber of Black candidates for office. by state troopers on horseback at the Pettus
bridge. In both of these cases, a persuasive
argument can be made that violent resistance
DISCUSSION
backfired-or in Charles Payne's words the
The findings on Black elected officials "calculus of repression" changed (1995:202).
should be placed within the context of Mis- Can we draw the conclusion from these
sissippi politics. Mississippi has experienced cases, or from the present analysis of the
dramatic increases in Black officeholding. 1964 Freedom Vote, that repression does not
Yet, in Mississippi, where Blacks constituted work? It appears that when a movement is at
approximately 32 percent of the voting-age its strongest (and media attention is highest),
population in 1980, Blacks held roughly 10 violent resistance can be used by a move-
percent of all elected offices as late as 1984. ment to broaden mobilization. Over a longer
In addition to this rough measure of the mal- time-frame, however, violent resistance se-
distribution of political power, observers verely limits the acquisition of political
have noted that Black officeholding was con- power by Blacks-at least it did in Missis-
centrated in lower-level positions and in sippi, where resistance reduced the number
small towns and rural counties with limited of Black candidates running for and being
economic resources (Davis 1987). Any con- elected to office.
clusions drawn from this research should be The findings concerning violent resistance
placed within this broader context. are particularly intriguing. However, we
Two related questions this research raises should not overlook the impact of the civil
but cannot directly address are: (1) Is politi- rights movement itself on electoral out-
cal access in the form of elected officials fol- comes. Civil rights mobilization shaped elec-
lowed by demobilization, and (2) what ef- toral outcomes 10 to 20 years after the peak
fects do Black elected officials have on the of the movement. This is a theoretically and
distribution of public goods? Both of these historically important result. While move-
questions cry out for careful research. ments rarely achieve all of their goals, they
The analysis presented here confirms many can generate enduring consequences. As
of the predictions in the social movement lit- Tarrow (1994) notes:
erature about the effects of repression on
[P]rotest cycles do not simply end and leave
protest and collective action. In certain cir-
nothing but lassitude or repression in their
cumstances, repression escalates protest.
wake; they have indirect and long-term effects
But, confirming Gamson's (1990) conclu-

that emerge when the initial excitement is over
sion, violence often has a large negative im- and disillusionment passes. Especially when
movements transform their initial challenges

pact on the long-term ability of a movement
into permanent access to power and leave last-
to achieve its goals. Massive resistance leg-
ing networks of activists behind, they can re-
islation was effective to the extent that it pre-
appear after the cycle is over and new opportu-
vented the election of a Black candidate to
nities appear. (P. 172)
the House of Representatives for more than
20 years; it also prevented the election of This claim is often asserted as a matter of
candidates to many lower-level offices. Like fact, but the relationship is rarely docu-
legal resistance, violent resistance has lim- mented or clarified through actual analysis.
ited Black officeholding at the local level, The results reported here demonstrate that an
suggesting a permeable boundary between important determinant of a movement's abil-
"normal" politics and violence. These effects ity to shape electoral outcomes is its success
have persisted long after violent resistance in generating a local infrastructure.
collapsed as a strategy. Ella Baker, a life-long activist who guided
How can we account for the different ef- SNCC in its early development, distin-
fects that violent resistance has had on social guished between mobilizing and organizing.
movements and their impacts? Some of the
Organizing . .. involves creating ongoing
most compelling images from the civil rights
groups that are mass-based in the sense that the
movement show Black youth in Birmingham

people a group purports to represent have real
being attacked by White firemen, and non-

impact on the group's direction. Mobilizing is
more sporadic, involving large numbers of

ever, the dramatic conflicts that these mobi-
people for relatively short periods of time and
lizations created have obscured the less dra-
probably for relatively dramatic activities.
matic role of organizing and its long-term ef-
(Payne 1989:897)
fect on political outcomes in the history of
This organizing approach characterized the the civil rights movement and in the sociol-
civil rights movement in Mississippi. Mobi- ogy of social movements.
lizing techniques like the Freedom Vote were
Kenneth T. Andrews is Assistant Professor of So-
used, but they were embedded in the larger
ciology at Harvard University. He recently com-
framework of community organizing. The
pleted his Ph.D. dissertation (at SUNY-Stony
casting of ballots in the Freedom Vote fol-
Brook) on social movement outcomes and the
lowed long periods of citizenship and lit-
Mississippi Civil Rights Movement. It examines a
eracy classes, mass meetings, and registra-

broader data set than the current study, and in-
tion canvassing. vestigates electoral politics, educational institu-
tions, and poverty programs. It also includes

Mobilizing tactics such as those used in
three community studies. His research interests
the campaigns in Birmingham or Selma
include social movements, political sociology,
played an important role in securing federal
race and ethnicity, and the sociology of law.
initiatives like the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Garrow
dramatic campaigns like the one in Birmingham.
1978; Burstein 1985; Morris 1993).22 How-

Forman (1972) argues that SCLC's campaign in
Selma (and Albany) depended on the organizing
22 Morris's (1993) research demonstrates the

of SNCC field workers in Selma and nearby
importance of organizing for the success of large, Lowndes County.
Appendix A. Descriptions and Data Sources for Variables Used in Analysis
Variable Name Variable Description Source
Number of Freedom Number of Freedom Summer volunteers SNCC papers, Schomburg Center for the
Summer volunteers and staff working in county, summer Study of Black Culture, New York, NY,
1964. A:XV:197, Reel 39.
Freedom votes, 1964 Number of freedom votes cast Freedom Information Services Archives,
in mock election, November 1964. Jackson, Mississippi. General files.
Number of NAACP Logarithm of the number of NAACP Papers, Library of Congress,
members, 1966 (log) members in the in NAACP in 1966. Washington, DC, "Mississippi State
Conference 1956-1972," III C 75.
Resistance to Freedom Number of incidents of physical attack McAdam (1988:257-82); Holt (1965:
Summer on civil rights workers, June-August 207-52).
1964.
Violent resistance Number of incidents of attack/assault Colby (1987:45-46).
index, 1960-1969 on civil rights workers, 1960-1969.
Federal examiners Presence of federal examiners in U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1968,
present county. table 9:244-47).
Number of Blacks Number of Black registered voters U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1961:
registered to vote, 1960 in 1960. 272-75).
Number of Blacks Number of Black registered voters U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1968,
registered to vote, 1967 in 1967. table 9:244-47).
Number of Black Number of Blacks running for office in Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
candidates, 1967 1967 in county and state elections. micro-film collection, Mississippi De-
partment of Archives and History, Reel
2; Rims Barber Papers, Tougaloo College,
Tougaloo, MS, Box 1, File 7; also see
Baer (1970).
Number of Black Number of Blacks running for office Rims Barber Papers, Tougaloo College,
candidates, 1971 in 1971 in county and state elections. Tougaloo, MS, Box 1, File 7.
(Appendix A continued on next page)
(Appendix A continued from previous page)
Variable Name Variable Description Source
Percentage of votes Average percentage of votes cast for State of Mississippi (n.d.a:439, 442).
for Whitley, 1966 Clifton Whitley for governor in the
Democratic primary and general
election, August and November 1966.
Evers vote, 1971 Number of votes cast for Charles State of Mississippi (n.d.b:455).
Evers in general election for
governor, 1971.
Number of county- Total number of county-level Black Joint Center for Political Studies (1974:
level Black elected elected officials in 1974. 117-28).
officials, 1974
officials, 1979
officials, 1984
Percent urban, 1960 Percent of population residing in U.S. Bureau of the Census (1967:182, 192).
urban areas in 1960.
Percent urban, 1970 Percent of population residing in U.S. Bureau of the Census (1977:258, 270).
urban areas in 1970.
Black voting-age Number of Black persons of voting U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1968,
population, 1960 age in 1960. table 9:244-47).
Black voting-age Number of Black persons of voting U.S. Bureau of the Census (1970, table 35).
population, 1970 age in 1970.
Black voting-age Number of Black persons of voting Mississippi Research and Development
population, 1980 age in 1980. Center (1983).
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The Impacts of Social Movements on the Political Process: The Civil Rights Movement and Black

Electoral Politics in Mississippi

THE POLITICAL PROCESS: THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

AND BLACK ELECTORAL POLITICS IN MISSISSIPPI*

litical outcomes. I begin by assessing the existing social movement literature

tional empirical research will advance current knowledge. Building on the

sissippifrom the period of widespread mobilization in the early 1960s through

the early 1980s. Specifically, I examine the impacts of local movements on

of Black elected officials. The strategies used by Whites to defeat or minimize

the short run, its long-term consequences must be considered as well.

* Direct correspondence to Kenneth Andrews, De-

partment of Sociology, Harvard University, Cam-

bridge, MA 02138 (andrews@wjh.harvard.edu). I

thank Shuva Paul, Ravinder Singh, Bob Zussman,

the ASR Editor and Deputy Editor, the anonymous

My aim here is to refine "political process

theory" to better understand and analyze

prior versions of this paper. Some of the data col-

lection was supported by a National Science Foun-

guishes between the internal dynamics of so-

dation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant

cial movements and the political opportunity

(SBER-9625597). This paper was presented at the

structure-the broad social, economic, and

annual meeting of the American Sociological Asso-

political dynamics that shape the opportuni-

ciation, August 1996. An earlier version received

ties and constraints for mobilization (Tilly

the 1995 award for the Best Graduate Student Paper

1978; McAdam 1982; Morris and Herring

800 American Sociological Review, 1997, Vol. 62 (October:800-8 19)

ten been used to examine the origins of so-

cial movements or "protest cycles." .Factors causal force. A recent examination of

internal to social movements include leader-

opportunity structure). These internal and ex- outcomes.

ternal factors affect the impact of social

movements. The political process approach

The Importance of Timing

has great potential for the analysis of the

consequences of social movements because First, the time dimension is important in

and external factors. cycles." These issues are especially salient

a sample of 53 "challenging groups" be- recent research on the Townsend movement

ity of movement organizations to achieve ment on Congressional action mirrored shifts

played a role in determining whether a 1978; Salamon 1979; Quadagno 1994).

movement achieved its goals.1 Analyses of the outcomes of a social move-

a social movement. During periods of crisis

like the Great Depression, movements are

more likely to achieve their goals. Simplify-

sociological analysis of repression has made

significant theoretical and empirical gains in

I For elaborations and critiques of Gamson, see

recent years. However, the implications of

Steedly and Foley (1979), Goldstone (1980a;

repression for an analysis of movement out-

1980b), and Mirowsky and Ross (1981). These

comes remain largely unexplored. The key

issue is sorting out the conditions under

which repression diminishes protest and Resistance to a movement includes the

when repression "backfires," generating tactics employed by individuals, small

higher levels of mobilization. Lichbach groups, and large organizations (such as

(1987) frames the alternatives as "deterrence governments and corporations) to under-

helped launch micromobization processes nizational resources to defend the power