GOV 330: South Carolina Politics (Dr. Phillip Stone)

The captivating, colorful, and controversial history of South Carolina continues to warrant fresh explorations. In this sweeping story of defining episodes in the state's history, accomplished historians Jack Bass and W. Scott Poole trace the importance of race relations, historical memory, and cultural life in the progress of the Palmetto State from its colonial inception to the present day. In the discussion of contemporary South Carolina that makes up the majority of this volume, the authors map the ways through which hard-won economic and civil rights advancements, a succession of progressive state leaders, and federal court mandates operated in tandem to bring a largely peaceful end to the Jim Crow era in South Carolina, in stark contrast to the violence wrought elsewhere in the South. This volume speaks directly to the connections between the state's past, present, and future, and it serves as a valuable point of entrance for new inquiries into South Carolina's diverse and complex heritage.

"Every four years presidential hopefuls and the national media travel the primary election circuit through Iowa and New Hampshire. Once the dust Settles in these states, the nation's focus turns to South Carolina, the first primary in the delegate-rich South. Historically Iowa and New Hampshire have dominated the news because they are first, not because of their predictive ability or representativeness. In First in the South, H. Gibbs Knotts and Jordan M. Ragusa make the case for shifting the national focus to South Carolina because of its clarifying and often-predictive role in selecting presidential nominees for both the Republican and Democratic Parties. To establish the foundation for their claim, Knotts and Ragusa begin with an introduction to the fundamentals of South Carolina's primary. They then detail how South Carolina achieved its coveted 'First in the South' status and examine the increasing importance of this primary since the first contest in 1980. Throughout the book they answer key questions about the Palmetto State's process, using both qualitative information--press reports, primary sources, archival documents, and oral histories--and quantitative data--election results, census data, and exit polls. Through their research Knotts and Ragusa argue that a key factor that makes the South Carolina primary so important is the unique demographic makeup of the state's Democratic and Republican electorates. Knotts and Ragusa also identify major factors that have bolstered candidates' campaigns and propelled them to victory in South Carolina. While the evidence confirms the conventional wisdom about endorsements, race, and being from a southern state, their analysis offers hope to political newcomers and candidates who have not mastered the art of fundraising"--Publisher's description.

"Like several other southern states, South Carolina's political tradition has pri-marily been that of its Democratic party: between 1920 and 1950 no Republican candidate for governor, the U.S. Senate, or U.S. House of Representatives received more than 5 percent of the popular vote. In discussing the state's history, Blease Graham Jr. and William V. Moore show how internal politics have traditionally been determined by race, class, and region, with an unusually wide acceptance of aristocratic rule. The uncompromising John C. Calhoun, one of South Carolina's most famous congressmen, warning of the dire consequences of giving way to democracy, led the state as the first to secede from the union in 1860. After the war, with a new constitution, South Carolina's government became more democratic; however, 'Pitchfork' Ben Tillman, through his agrarian Reform Party, appealed to white Democrats and small farmers in an effort to eliminate all but whites from the state's politics. The Civil Rights movement, industrial renovation, and shifts in South Carolina's economy have gradually altered the state's political culture. The racist politics of the post-Civil War era have slowly been chipped away by federal and state initiatives. Long dominated by its legislature (itself often dominated by alumni in Congress), state government has gradually accorded more power to the governor. No less significant, South Carolina has gradually relinquished its antipathy toward the federal government, recognizing the need for cooperation. Despite changes, the direction of state policy continues to be primarily in the hands of the business elite. South Carolina Politics and Government outlines the ways that South Carolinians and their long-standing traditionalistic political culture will continue to be challenged by economic and social changes in the future. Besides providing the historical background of South Carolina's society and government, Graham and Moore review recent elections and party competition; the state's legislative, executive, and judicial branches; and policies in areas relating to local government, education, and public safety"--Publisher's description.

"The first scholarly biography of Ernest F. 'Fritz' Hollings, a key figure in South Carolina and national political developments in the second half of the twentieth century. Throughout his career Hollings was renowned for his willingness to voice unpleasant truths, as when he called for the peaceful acceptance of racial desegregation at Clemson University in 1963 and acknowledged the existence of widespread poverty and malnutrition in South Carolina in 1969. David T. Ballantyne uses Hollings's career as a lens for examining the upheaval in southern politics and society after World War II. Hollings's political career began in 1948, when he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. He served as governor from 1959 to 1963, and then as a U.S. senator from 1966 until he retired in 2005. Ballantyne illuminates Hollings's role in forging a 'southern strategy' that helped move southern Democrats away from openly endorsing white supremacy and toward acknowledging the interests of racial minorities, though this approach was halting and reluctant at times. Unlike many southern politicians who emerged as reactionary figures during the civil rights era, Hollings adapted to the changing racial politics of the 1960s while pursuing a clear course--Vietnam War hawk, fiscal conservative, regional economic booster, and free-trade opponent. While Hollings was at times an atypical southern senator, his behavior in the 1960s and 1970s served as a model for survival as a southern Democrat. His approach to voting rights, military spending, and social and cultural issues was mirrored by many southern Democrats between the 1970s and 1990s. Hollings's career demonstrated an alternative to hard-edged political conservatism, one that was conspicuously successful throughout his Senate tenure"--Publisher's description.

Considered by many historians to be the birthplace of the Confederacy, South Carolina experienced one of the longest and most turbulent Reconstruction periods of all the southern states. After the Civil War, white supremacist leadership in the state fiercely resisted the efforts of freed slaves to secure full citizenship rights and to remake society based upon an expansive vision of freedom forged in slavery and the crucible of war. Despite numerous obstacles, African Americans achieved remarkable social and political advances in the ten years following the war, including the establishment of the state's first publicly-funded school system and health care for the poor. Through their efforts, the state's political process and social fabric became more democratic. Peter F. Lau traces the civil rights movement in South Carolina from Reconstruction through the early twenty-first century. He stresses that the movement was shaped by local, national, and international circumstances in which individuals worked to redefine and expand the meaning and practice of democracy beyond the borders of their own state. Contrary to recent scholars who separate civil rights claims from general calls for economic justice, Lau asserts that African American demands for civil rights have been inseparable from broader demands for a redistribution of social and economic power. Using the tension between rights possession and rights application as his organizing theme, Lau fundamentally revises our understanding of the civil rights movement in America. In addition to considering South Carolina's pivotal role in the national civil rights movement, Lau offers a comprehensive analysis of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during the height of its power and influence, from 1910 through the years following Brown v. Board of Education (1954). During this time, the NAACP worked to ensure the rights guaranteed to African Americans by the 14th and 15th amendments and facilitated the emergence of a broad-based movement that included many of the nation's rural and most marginalized people. By examining events that occurred in South Carolina and the impact of the activities of the NAACP, Democracy Rising upends traditional interpretations of the civil rights movement in America. In their place, Lau offers an innovative way to understand the struggle for black equality by tracing the movement of people, institutions, and ideas across boundaries of region, nation, and identity. Ultimately, the book illustrates how conflicts caused by the state's history of racial exclusion and discrimination continue to shape modern society.

A reinterpretation of the origins of the colonial revolutionary movement. Charts the changing nature of South Carolina's political culture from the end of King George's War in 1748 to the decision for independence. Mercantini challenges the prevailing interpretation of South Carolina as a politically harmonious colonial entity by examining a series of constitutional and political conflicts that highlight increasing tensions between local authorities and royal officials in both London and Charles Town. Mercantini explains this rejection of British rule through the transformation of the 'rights of Englishmen' into the 'rights of Carolina Englishmen.' He suggests that South Carolinians, accustomed to authority as slave masters, took the British idea that certain inalienable rights accompanied an English birthright and reinterpreted the concept in ways related to self rule. These 'rights of Carolina Englishmen' centered on local control of elections, representation, finances, and taxation"--Publisher's description.

"The best and most comprehensive analysis and history of political behaviors and shifting demographics in America's southern states. Edited by leading scholars Charles S. Bullock III and Mark J. Rozell, this book provides the most accurate and useful snapshot of the state of southern politics, and the ways in which they have developed over time. The southern electorate is a fascinating, dynamic body politic, and the study of its evolution is paramount to understanding the broader political developments occurring at a national level. While accessible to any interested reader, this edition illuminates the South's essential and growing role in the study, and the story, of American politics"--Publisher's description. Each Southern State has a chapter devoted to it.

"An eloquent and important examination of one of the most significant political trends of the last fifty years, revealing how prescient President Lyndon Johnson was on the occasion of his signing of the 1965 Civil Rights Bill when he made his famous comment about handing the South over to the Republicans for a generation.... In this fascinating and timely collection, a distinguished group of scholars engages in an enlightening debate. Some make the case that the South has become Republican, and some contend that it has not. Some outline the region's exceptionalism, and some reject the idea of regional distinctiveness. Some point to white discontent over civil rights as the root of political changes, and some cite color-blind factors. All offer invaluable insights into U.S. politics during these ultra-partisan times"--From publisher's description. Some chapters concentrate on specific Southern States.

"The first scholarly study of Black-Latino solidarity and coalition in response to a Latino population boom in the Gulf South"--Publisher's description.

"Examines four 1970 Southern gubernatorial campaigns. The campaigns resulted in victories for Democrats Dale Bumpers in Arkansas, Reubin Askew in Florida, John West in South Carolina, and Jimmy Carter in Georgia. These contests, which occurred five years after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, reflected major changes that were taking place in southern politics. The four victorious candidates won in their respective states without making overtly racist appeals to white voters. Instead they avoided racial questions to the extent politically feasible and made effective use of television to conduct campaigns that emphasized style and image. Sander argues convincingly that the elections of these four racial moderates constituted evidence of changing public opinion in the South on racial matters. Most southern whites in 1970 were not enthusiastic supporters of racial integration, but they also did not respond as fervently as they once had to politicians who promised to vigorously fight federal civil rights policies"--Publisher's description.

"How can a state be represented by Jesse Helms and John Edwards at the same time? Journalist Rob Christensen answers that question and navigates a century of political history in North Carolina, one of the most vibrant and competitive southern states, where neither conservatives nor liberals, Democrats nor Republicans, have been able to rest easy. It is this climate of competition and challenge, Christensen argues, that enabled North Carolina to rise from poverty in the nineteenth century to become a leader in research, education, and banking in the twentieth. Although party divisions and the issues of race that often distinguish them are deeply rooted, Christensen explains, North Carolina voters remain loyal to candidates who focus on issues such as education and building a business-friendly infrastructure. He takes us to picket lines and debates and through numerous red-baiting and race-baiting political campaigns. Along the way we are introduced to many remarkable characters, including a U.S. senator who was a Nazi sympathizer, a candidate for governor who was a Soviet agent, a senator who helped bring down Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon, and a TV commentator who helped usher in the Reagan Revolution. Long before the talk of red state-blue state polarization, North Carolina was an intensely divided state politically. With Christensen as a guide, readers may find there is sense after all in the topsy-turvy nature of Tar Heel politics"--Publisher's description.

"Presents an original thesis about how blacks and whites in today's South engage in a politics that is qualitatively different from the past. Glen Browder--as practitioner and scholar--argues that politicians of the two races now practice an open, sophisticated, biracial game that, arguably, means progress; but it also can bring out old-fashioned, cynical, and racist Southern ways. The lesson to be learned from this interpretative analysis is that the Southern political system, while still constrained by racial problems, is more functional than ever before. Southerners perhaps can now move forward in dealing with their legacy of hard history"--Publisher's description.

"America seems to have little sense of how the civil rights movement actually played into Southern politics over the remainder of the twentieth century. The common vision is a monolithic struggle between heroes and villains, depicted literally and figuratively in black and white. Unfortunately, this conception provides an incomplete explanation for subsequent progress in the Southern political system. This book reveals that, amid all the heroic history of that time, there is a fascinating story of "stealth reconstruction"--i.e., the unheroic, quiet, practical, biracial work of some white politicians and black leaders, a story untold and unknown until now"--Publisher's description.