Release date: March 26, 2007
Contact: Elaine Justice at 404-727-0643 or elaine.justice@emory.edu

Black Brothers Examine a Politically "Divided America" in New Book

Renowned political scientists Merle and Earl Black have found that the battle lines of America's deeply partisan national politics could easily be drawn on a United States map.

In their newest book, "Divided America: The Ferocious Power Struggle in American Politics," Emory University's Merle Black and his twin brother, Earl Black of Rice University -- the foremost authorities on Southern politics -- look beyond the region to detail the country's distinct regional differences for the first time in contemporary politics. The brothers give a special emphasis on the role of race, religion and the rise of new minorities in defining regions as Democratic or Republican.

Drawing on extensive polling data and close analyses of presidential, senatorial and congressional elections over the past 50 years, Black and Black show how partisan warfare has reduced both major parties to minority status and locked them into fierce power struggles in each election cycle, thereby making America less stable and more difficult to govern.

The authors examine the party battles as they've played out in the nation's five principal geographical areas. Each party has developed two regional strongholds: the Mountains/Plains and the South for the Republicans, the Northeast and the Pacific Coast for the Democrats. The Midwest is the perennial swing region.

The brothers describe the enormous changes that have occurred in the electorates of each region since the 1950s -- with emphasis on how the size of key racial, ethnic and religious groups have changed--and show how these transformations have generated today's unstable two-party battles.

The Blacks find that for the foreseeable future, each party will be within striking distance of winning -- or losing -- political power in every national institution. Understanding the party battles in America's regions is vital to understanding how today's losers can become tomorrow's winners.

"Divided America" (Simon and Schuster, 2007) is the brothers' fourth co-authored book. (Columnist George F. Will profiled the book in his most recent column.)

Emory University (www.emory.edu) is one of the nation’s leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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