Paths Out of Dixie: The Democratization of Authoritarian Enclaves in America's Deep South, 1944-1972(Princeton Studies in American Politics)

The transformation of the American South--from authoritarian to democratic rule--is the most important political development since World War II. It has re-sorted voters into parties, remapped presidential elections, and helped polarize Congress. Most important, it is the final step in America's democratization. Paths Out of Dixie illuminates this sea change by analyzing the democratization experiences of Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Robert Mickey argues that Southern states, from the 1890s until the early 1970s, constituted pockets of authoritarian rule trapped within and sustained by a federal democracy. These enclaves--devoted to cheap agricultural labor and white supremacy--were established by conservative Democrats to protect their careers and clients. From the abolition of the whites-only Democratic primary in 1944 until the national party reforms of the early 1970s, enclaves were battered and destroyed by a series of democratization pressures from inside and outside their borders. Drawing on archival research, Mickey traces how Deep South rulers--dissimilar in their internal conflict and political institutions--varied in their responses to these challenges.Ultimately, enclaves differed in their degree of violence, incorporation of African Americans, and reconciliation of Democrats with the national party. These diverse paths generated political and economic legacies that continue to reverberate today. Focusing on enclave rulers, their governance challenges, and the monumental achievements of their adversaries, Paths Out of Dixie shows how the struggles of the recent past have reshaped the South and, in so doing, America's political development.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations and Tables ix Preface and Acknowledgments xi Part One: Deep South Enclaves, 1890-1940 1 CHAPTER ONE Southern Political Development in Comparative Perspective 3 CHAPTER TWO The Founding and Maintenance of Southern Enclaves, 1890-1940 33 CHAPTER THREE Deep South Enclaves on the Eve of the Transition 64 Part Two: The Transition Begins, 1944-48 93 CHAPTER FOUR Suffrage Restriction under Attack, 1944-47 95 CHAPTER FIVE Driven from the House of Their Fathers Southern Enclaves and the National Party, 1947-48 131 Part Three: The Clouds Darken, 1950-63 171 PROLOGUE "No Solution Offers Except Coercion" Brown, Massive Resistance, and Campus Crises, 1950-63 173 CHAPTER SIX "No Task for the Amateur or Hothead" Mississippi and the Battle of Oxford 190 CHAPTER SEVEN "Integration with Dignity" South Carolina Navigates the Clemson Crisis 215 CHAPTER EIGHT "No, Not One" Georgia's Massive Resistance and the Crisis at Athens 240 Part Four: Modes of Democratization and Their Legacies since 1964 257 CHAPTER NINE The Deathblows to Authoritarian Rule The Civil and Voting Rights Acts and National Party Reform, 1964-72 259 CHAPTER TEN Harnessing the Revolution? Three Paths Out of Dixie 281 CHAPTER ELEVEN Legacies and Lessons of the Democratized South 335 Notes 355 Index 531

About the Author :
Robert Mickey is associate professor of political science at the University of Michigan.

Review :
Winner of the 2017 V.O. Key Award, Southern Political Science Association Winner of the 2016 J. David Greenstone Book Prize, Politics and History Section of the American Political Science Association "Paths Out of Dixie is the rare gem of American politics destined to be a touchstone across political science subfields."--Jason Brownlee, Journal of Politics "Mickey's work rests on an exhaustive treasure of archival research that displays a stunning commitment to the best traditions of American political development scholarship. Paths Out of Dixie is a worthy and indeed more rigorous successor to Key's (1949) Southern Politics."--Kimberley Johnson, Journal of Politics