Governance by Decree The Impact of the Voting Rights Act in Dallas Ruth P. Morgan March 2004 344 pages, 6 x 9 Studies in Government and Public Policy Cloth ISBN 978-0-7006-1306-9, $45.00 Paper ISBN 978-0-7006-1307-6, $17.95 The Voting Rights Act of 1965, which originally was intended to prohibit barriers to black registration and voting, has been hailed as a triumph for civil rights and as a catalyst for the election of minorities to public office in both the Deep South and the urban North. To advance its objective, federal courts instructed many cities to change from at-large to single-member district electoral systems as a way to ensure that minorities had a reasonable chance to elect representatives of their choice. In the first book to critique the implementation of this landmark legislation in a major American city, Ruth Morgan examines its effect on local governance over forty years in Dallas and shows that it had unintended consequences for racial politics, representation, and public policy. Breaking from studies that measure the success of the VRA in terms of increased minority representation, Morgan assesses the consequences of the Act for Dallas city government--and for the wider interests of minorities as well. While endorsing the original intent of the VRA, Morgan believes that this intent was subverted by subsequent amendments to the Act and by the courts’ attempts to advance the political standing of particular minority groups. She argues that court-imposed single-member districts have created in Dallas a city council infected with parochialism and careerism--a result of members no longer having to compromise to win citywide votes--and have had an adverse impact on governmental effectiveness and voter turnout. With corruption and cronyism now rampant, voting rights legislation and litigation have ultimately failed to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the unempowered, and the district system has created an incentive for continued racial separation. Governance by Decree offers a pointed assessment of the complexities and contradictions produced by the voting rights law, while at the same time calling for the federal judiciary to exercise restraint in imposing its will when it lacks the capacity to make choices that are inherently political. Morgan’s powerfully argued case study should inspire much debate and inform forthcoming congressional deliberations over the renewal of the preclearance section of the VRA in 2007. “Morgan’s thorough exploration of racial politics in Dallas takes the examination of the consequences of the Voting Rights Act to a new level.”--Charles S. Bullock, III, author of The New Politics of the Old South “A model of the type of research needed elsewhere in the South and Southwest if we are to arrive at a definitive assessment of this landmark legislation.”--Chandler Davidson, author of Race and Class in Texas Politics “Morgan’s wonderfully thorough study will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the impact of judicial power on local governance.”--Philip Seib, author of Campaigns and Conscience: The Ethics of Political Journalism “Should be high on the ‘must read’ list for urban scholars.”--Clarence Stone, author of Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946–1988 RUTH P. MORGAN has been active in the Dallas community as a participant-observer of political events for forty years. She is provost emeritus and professor emeritus at Southern Methodist University and author of The President and Civil Rights: Policy-Making by Executive Order. Home | About the Press | Recent Awards | Contact Us | Order New Books: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series Books in Print: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series ©2007 University Press of Kansas 2502 Westbrooke Circle, Lawrence, KS 66045-4444 Phone (785) 864-4155; Fax (785) 864-4586