Jan E. Leighley – författare

The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics are a set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of scholarship on American politics. Each volume focuses on a particular aspect of the field. The project is under the General Editorship of George C. Edwards III, and distinguished specialists in their respective fields edit each volume. The Handbooks aim not just to report on the discipline, but also to shape it as scholars critically assess the scholarship on a topic and propose directions in which it needs to move. The series is an indispensable reference for anyone working in American politics.This Handbook offers comprehensive coverage of the various theoretical approaches to the study of American elections and political behavior. The chapters are thoughtful and creative, providing broad overviews of intellectual developments and challenges, as well as incisive commentary on the accomplishments of, and challenges facing, scholars of American politics. Substantively, the Handbook includes chapters focusing on various approaches and issues in research design, political participation, vote choice, presidential and non-presidential elections, and issues, interests and elites as influences on individuals' political behaviour. Each of the chapters offers a working research bibliography, as well as retrospective evaluations of research and discussions of fruitful paths for future research.General Editor for The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics: George C. Edwards III

The Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior offers comprehensive coverage of the various theoretical approaches to the study of American elections and political behavior. The chapters are thoughtful and creative, providing broad overviews of intellectual developments and challenges, as well as incisive commentary on the accomplishments of, and challenges facing, scholars of American politics. Substantively, the Handbook includes chapters focusing on various approaches and issues in research design, political participation, vote choice, presidential and non-presidential elections, and issues, interests and elites as influences on individuals' political behaviour. Each of the chapters offers a working research bibliography, as well as retrospective evaluations of research and discussions of fruitful paths for future research.The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics are a set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of scholarship on American politics. Each volume focuses on a particular aspect of the field. The project is under the General Editorship of George C. Edwards III, and distinguished specialists in their respective fields edit each volume. The Handbooks aim not just to report on the discipline, but also to shape it as scholars critically assess the scholarship on a topic and propose directions in which it needs to move. The series is an indispensable reference for anyone working in American politics.General Editor for The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics: George C. Edwards III

America's increasing racial and ethnic diversity is viewed by some as an opportunity to challenge and so reinforce the country's social fabric; by others, as a portent of alarming disunity. While everyone agrees that this diversity is markedly influencing political dynamics not only nationally but often on the state and local levels, we know little about how racial and ethnic groups organize and participate in politics or how political elites try to mobilize them. This book tells us. By integrating class-based factors with racial and ethnic factors, Jan Leighley shows what motivates African-Americans, Latinos, and Anglos to mobilize and participate in politics. Drawing on national survey data and on interviews with party and elected officials in Texas, she develops a nuanced understanding of how class, race, and ethnicity act as individual and contextual influences on elite mobilization and mass participation. Leighley examines whether the diverse theoretical approaches generally used to explain individual participation in politics are supported for the groups under consideration.She concludes that the political and social context influences racial and ethnic minorities' decisions to participate, but that different features of those environments are important for different groups. Race and ethnicity structure participation more than previous research suggests. Casting new light on an issue at the crux of contemporary American politics, Strength in Numbers? will be welcomed by scholars and students of political science, African-American and Latino studies, urban politics, and social movements.