Countervailing Forces in African-American Civic Activism, 1973-1994

In a first-ever study assessing black civic participation after the civil rights movement, Fredrick C. Harris, Valeria Sinclair-Chapman and Brian D. McKenzie demonstrate that the changes in black activism since the civil rights movement are characterized by a tug-of-war between black political power on one side and economic conditions in black communities on the other, which creates countervailing forces. The negative economic and social conditions in black communities weaken the ability of blacks to organize so that their political voices can be heard.