Search

This article addresses the theoretical and empirical dimensions inherent in the historical antecedents of African American public opinion based on the "Literary Digest" magazine's straw-vote polls in 1916-1936. Straw vote polls are opinion surveys conducted orally and with pen and paper. They have been used in gauging popular sentiment towards candidates standing for governmental office. There were four types of biases that affected the outcome of the polls. These were geographical, class, selection and participation.

Examines the pioneering books about African American politics and the political science community from 1903 to 1965. Categories of pioneering books on African American politics; Analysis of the intellectual basis of African American politics; Pamphlets published prior to the Reconstruction period; Literature on such politics during its formative years.

This article focuses on the problem of preconceived perceptions in African American urban politics. Rooted in one's perception is the very essence of one's idea of universal realities, and inherent in one's perception is one's vision of reality, which in the intellectual community, often-times gets translated into the academic and scholarly equivalent of the real world. Essentially, it is one's perceptions that are the key to fashioning one's intellectual grasp and understanding of one's worldview. The problem arises, however, when one's perceptions seem prejudged and predetermined. It is with these a priori assumptions and presuppositions that bias and distortions are born and then offered up to the academic community as political and social truths. Thus, the problem is in its prior beliefs and attitudes that are inaccurate. Such a problem arise in African American urban politics with the pioneering works in the area. Such is allegedly nowhere better seen than in the contrast between the works of two of the pioneers in the field, professors Harold R. Gosnell and James Q. Wilson. The differences in their works, which draw upon the same city, Chicago, Illinois, apparently provide an excellent set of insights into the problems of perception when it comes to African American urban politics.