ELECTION SYSTEMS AND THE REPRESENTATION OF BLACK-WOMEN IN AMERICAN STATE LEGISLATURES

Both blacks and women are under-represented in American elected office s. At the local and the state legislative levels, however, the under-r epresentation of blacks is almost entirely due to the under-representa tion of black women. Black men have achieved or exceed parity between their population proportions and their proportions among elected offic ials; therefore, the under-representation of blacks and women are one and the same. Women are more likely to be elected in multi-member dist ricts than in single-member district systems. Black women, in particul ar, are more likely to come from multi-member district systems whether in overwhelmingly white or black majority constituencies. Redistricti ng to multi-member districts with black majority and overwhelmingly wh ite constituencies, then, could aid in the election of more black wome n without hurting black representation overall.