pattern of legislator and candidate movement and residence occurs in the larger counties. Legislators move and reside-as it were-in greater physical distances from minority communities. Also, included on these maps are the residences of unsuccessful candidates during this period of time (when information was available). Although a legislator's residence says nothing necessarily about his advocacy of the particularized interests of any group, a case can be made that understanding and advocacy is enhanced if a representative shares community experiences through residence. Another kind of evidence was introduced during court proceedings to attempt to gauge legislator performance vis a vis particularized Chicano and Black community interests and needs. The court record is replete with testimony by legislators concerning the alleged representational effectiveness or lack thereof of Anglo members of multi-member delegations. As convincing as some of the testimony concerning lack of legislative performance might be, a more systematic roll call analysis is needed to meet the canons of social science validity and acceptability. A cursory examination of multi-member delegation roll call votes during the last session of the Texas legislature" suggests that there are emphatic distinctions concerning single-member and multi-member legislators' votes on issues of importance to Mexican American and Black communities. It is significant that seven of the ten Mexican Americans in the Texas House of Representatives currently hold seats from single-member districts, while all seven of the Black legislators were elected from single-member districts. Hence, some contrast in performance could be made according to single-member and multi-member districts, as well as contrasts on the basis of ethnicity and race. Issues such as equal school financing, the death penalty (of special concern to Black legislators and constituents), and legislation introducing higher interest rates are some of the select roll calls in an on-going study by the author. The current Texas Constitutional Convention is also a source of contrast for roll call votes. Also, degrees of effective representation not reflected in roll call analysis can be gleaned from (1) the initiation of legislation supportive of particularized needs and (2) the intensity of support and degrees of constituency-service orientation on the part of legislators. Representative Ben Reyes from Harris County (Houston) discussed some of these indicators thusly: You can't really appreciate the value of bilingual education unless you have been physically abused for speak ing a language that your parents have spoken. You can't fully appreciate not having any food on the table unless you have had that experience. And so if you have an opportunity to push for legislation creating the food stamp program statewide, you are going to push for that specific legisla tion." Finally, we can gain some understanding of legislator role perceptions of constituency-representative relationships from a recent study of Texas urban government. Using the well-known Wahlke legislator role orientations of "trustee," "politico" and "delegate," Jones and Taebel apply the construct to legislator perceptions from multi-member and single-member districts during the Texas Sixty-First Legislative Session. They conclude that: Multi-member districts may also promote a more independent stance on the part of the representative vis-a-vis his constituency. Such districts tend to be far more heterogeneous than single-member constituencies, and as such are far less likely to possess a singular constituency "will." Rather, the legislator is likely to hear a multitude of voices from his constituency. Because the representative has plural bases of support, any stand he takes on an issue has a low probability of alienating all of his support simultaneously. In more homogeneous districts, a representative may find it easier (and more necessary) to commit himself to his constituents' demands. Table 6 presents evidence from a sample of sixty-five members of the 1969 session of the Texas 70 Data is derived from Charles Deaton. (ed.) A Voter's Guide to the 63rd Legislature (Austin, Texas Texas Government Newsletter, 1974). 71 Trial Record. Moreno, et al. v. White, 547. 72 Bryan D. Jones and Delbert A. Taebel, "Urban Politics in Texas." contained in Politics in the Urban Southwest, ed. by Robert D. Wrinkle (Albuquerque, New Mexico: Division of Government Research, 1971). 73 John C. Wahlke, et al., The Legislative System: Studies in Legislative Behavior (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1962). House of Representatives which indicates that members from multi-member districts are more likely to adopt the "trustee" role orientation, in which the representative claims to rely predominantly on his own judgment in making decisions. Legislators from single-member districts are more likely to stress that they are "delegates" from their constituencies, bound to the wishes of those whom they represent." It is hypothesized that the size of multi-member districts, as well as the constituency base, influences legislator role orientation. From the standpoint of role orientation, single-member districts seem more structurally suitable to serving the particularized needs of Mexican American and Black constituents (indeed, any concentrated community with identifiable needs would seem to benefit more from a single-member district structural arrangement). In sum, on the basis of court testimony, initial excursions in roll call analysis and the Jones and Taebel conclusions, a tentative conclusion is reached that Chicano and Black representational effectiveness is diminished under multimember districts. EPILOGUE The explanation of the effects of at-large elections on Mexican American and Black voting strength and representational effectiveness in this study presents the reader with a mixed genre of evidence. Moreover, there are obvious "gaps" in the evidential base in this exploration. Some of the data needed to complete this study will be available after the Supreme Court concludes with the Moreno decision. Other data is being developed in studies under way now, e.g., a more rigorous roll-call analysis of legislator's votes on issues of concern to minority communities. The 63rd Session of the Texas Legislature and the Texas Constitutional Convention are the context for this effort; ethnicity, constituency demographics, and single member and multi-member districts are some of the variables being considered. In January, 1974, a federal district court in Austin, Texas, ruled that the multi-member districts in El Paso, Jefferson, Lubbock, McLennan, Nueces, Travis, and Tarrant Counties diluted, minimized and otherwise canceled the votes of Mexican American and Black citizens in those districts. The State of Texas appealed that decision and it is curerntly before the Supreme Court; however, the Court ruled in February, 1974 that elections in the counties under litigation could be held under multi-member district arrangements until the Court could consider the case on its merits. Suits challenging the constitutionality of at-large elections have been filed in five Texas cities-San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Lubbock and Waco. Table 3 illustrates inadequate percentages of councilmanic positions held by minority members which are similar to state legislative representation (see Table 2). The legal and empirical "fact situation" will be strikingly similar in this round of litigation. However, in the city suits, the party primary will not, of course, be an issue. City elections in Texas are non-partisan.” TABLE 3-MINORITY GROUP REPRESENTATION IN MAJOR TEXAS CITIES, 1960-74 For structural characteristics of Texas cities, see Bryan D. Jones and Delbert A. Taebel "Urban Politics in Texas", 11. Another difference in these suits are the apparent number of minority candidate "break throughs" in councilmanic elections as contrasted to state legislative positions over the last decade. A more rigorous examination of slate-making and the use of token minority candidates on dominant slates will have to be undertaken. A further challenge to the attorneys and researchers involved in the current city suits is the construction of representative (councilman) performance indices. Finally, school districts employing the at-large election arrangement in Texas may be in for court challenges. Suits challenging the at-large election structure for the election of school board members have been filed in Lubbock and Hondo, Texas during the past two months. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has called attention to the relationship between representational effectiveness and at-large school board elections in a recent report." The Commission has recommended single-member districts for the election of school board members. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated to me the need for systematic information and analysis concerning voting, campaigning and the quality of representation in Texas. The effects of at-large elections in Texas could be better understood if studies like the following were conducted: (1) local voting surveys which explore dimensions of racial and class voting in Texas; (2) region or local studies examining the impact of the place system and majority run-off provision in local elections; (3) campaign costs in different size constituencies on candidate recruitment and nomination; and, (4) more sophisticated indices of legislator performance (to extend beyond roll-call analysis). These proposed research undertakings have something to recommend them. After all, knowledge occasionally exerts an influence on political justice and change... even in Texas. 78 Toward Quality Education For Mexican Americans, Report VI: Mexican American Education Study (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1974). |