Research Record: Race, Democracy, and Empire: Delegates to Congress from D.C. and the Territories

Aug 06 2024
By David Pavlak
Topics Politics
Source Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

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The Details

Authors: Elliot Mamet (Princeton University), Austin Bussing (Trinity University)
Title: Race, Democracy, and Empire: Delegates to Congress from DC and the Territories
Journal: Polity

 

The Big Picture

Mamet and Bussing ask why the U.S. Congress added four seats for nonvoting delegates — Washington D.C., Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa — in the 1970s. These new delegates could debate, but not vote, on the final passage of legislation.

These four positions have endured. Today, the nonvoting members represent roughly four million Americans — overwhelmingly racial and ethnic minorities.  They play a peculiar role as the only members of Congress not hailing from one of the 50 states.

“The delegates serve as formally second-class members of Congress, with a voice, but not a vote,” Mamet said. 
 

The Findings

Through extensive archival evidence and quantitative data, the research found that racial attitudes from legislators, civil rights organizations, and presidents influenced the delegate’s positions.

“For advocates of democratic representation, granting D.C. and the territories nonvoting delegate seats was a way to achieve political power for people of color,” Mamet said. “On the other hand, racist critics, often Southern Democrats, derided the effort to provide even partial representation in Congress for an overwhelmingly non-white constituency.”