In Twists of Fate: Multiracial Coalitions and Minority Representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, Vanessa C. Tyson makes an important and unique contribution to the literature on race and representation in the U.S. Congress. Tyson's book goes above and beyond the examination of roll call votes by engaging various strands of literature in political science, including American political development and legislative studies, as well as political philosophy, to highlight the crucial role of influence in understanding the representation of minorities.
The study begins by examining the role of marginalization, linked fate, and coalitional politics. Tyson persuasively makes the case that we must study minority representation through the lens of marginalization. It is not enough for minorities to get elected to Congress. We should look beyond elections and study the extent to which minority members of Congress are marginalized within the institution. It is here that Tyson's qualitative evidence derived from 47 interviews with members of Congress is illuminating. Through these interviews, Tyson clearly demonstrates in this book a substantive knowledge of minority representation in Congress.
In contrast to previous studies of minorities in Congress, which typically offer brief historical context, Tyson provides a more convincing argument in which history matters. By examining the slow and often cumbersome path of African Americans in their quest for equality, Tyson shows how it was not really until after the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 that minorities were able to have a more meaningful voice in Congress. It was not long after the VRA that the Congressional Black Caucus would form paving the way for a future generation of African Americans, and later Latinos to imagine the very possibility of being members of Congress. Tyson's careful analysis of the VRA and the Court's various interpretations of Sections 2 and 5 are important and often neglected in scholarship on minority representation.
Tyson proceeds to examine policy influence in influence districts by analyzing the extent to which members of Congress support civil rights policy during the 108th and 109th Congresses. Her findings support much of the previous research on minority representation finding that partisanship does much of the work in predicting roll call votes on civil rights. In addition, majority-minority districts are more likely to produce members who vote in favor of civil rights legislation. Influence districts also provide some degree of support for civil rights legislation, but not to the same extent of majority-minority districts.
This book shows how the development of the Congressional Tri-Caucus makes a difference, in terms of the changing strategies minority members of Congress needed to employ to garner influence. Early studies of representation only examined the Congressional Black Caucus. Later studies examined the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, but what sets Tyson's book apart is the study of the Tri-Caucus, which is an important adaptation in order to exert strength in numbers.
Tyson argues that the CBC, CHC, and the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus have come together to support each other on matters of public policy. This was all the more necessary during times of Republican control when it was difficult for any of the caucuses to enact their policy goals. She draws on the work of Michael Dawson to explain this cooperation through what she calls political linked fate. In the same way African American citizens see what happens to them individually to affect their group as a whole, she argues that the members of the Tri-Caucus sense a political linked fate. To be clear, she argues that this political linked fate is present among elites, but often not recognized by constituents. Tyson does admit the possible disconnect between the rank and file and members of Congress on some issues, such as immigration for African Americans, and social issues for Latinos and Asians. The interviews with members of Congress highlight that this can be a concern, such as the representative who was concerned about his district churches who were not “happy about gay marriage,” but the member saw his job to “help move (his) African American constituents to a different level relative to this issue”(p. 141).
Overall, Tyson's Twists of Fate is a welcome contribution to the literature on minority representation because it examines the subject using multiple methods and rich, historically informed analysis. The concept of a linked political fate being the mechanism for the formation of the Congressional Tri-Caucus shows how members of marginalized groups realize that strength in numbers can yield progress albeit at a slow pace. This book would make for an excellent classroom adoption for upper-level undergraduates, especially the sections on the history of minority representation and how the VRA came about.
