(Posted 7-13-00)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News Service Contact: Steve Gilliam, 336-334-5371
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SOUTHERN POLITICAL ACTIVISTS, PARTY CHANGES
OF PAST DECADE TO BE EXAMINED IN NEW STUDY
GREENSBORO—As the new millennium’s first November elections draw closer, a team of researchers are planning to study how and why citizens become involved in political parties in the South.
Titled “Southern Grassroots Party Activists 2001,” the project will survey approximately 15,000 party activists across the South, ranging from precinct chairmen to county party leaders. Its focus is to determine changes in the grassroots organizations of the Democratic and Republican parties.
A National Science Foundation grant of more than $300,000 is funding the effort. Leading the effort are political scientists Dr. Charles Prysby at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Dr. John Clark of Western Michigan University. The survey will follow up a 1991 study that examined political party organizations in the South, looking at both individual states and the region. Both Prysby and Clark were involved in the earlier study. States to be surveyed include those of the “Old Confederacy,” Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
“The South has undergone a lot of change in the last 10 years, and the decade was very interesting for the South as a political region,” said Prysby. “In 1991, the majority of seats in state legislatures were held by the Democratic Party, and that has been changing steadily to where there is close to equal representation between both parties. The greatest change in the party balance in the South makes the study of party organizations over the past 10 years particularly interesting.
“What we want to examine is changes in attitudes, changes in motivation to become and remain involved in political parties, tensions within the parties, from the local level to state and national levels. Attitude surveys have shown that today, people are reluctant to get involved in any organizations, including politics. Among other things, we want to know what motivates this kind of involvement for both the long and short term.”
The survey will be done by questionnaire, going to approximately 15,000 individuals next year who are involved in party organizations at the county level in the 11-state area. Prysby is hoping for a return of approximately 800-1,000 per state, which should provide more than adequate data.
Three major publications will be produced, with the first focusing on changes in party organizations and activists over the past 10 years. The second volume will have chapters on inter-party and intra-party conflict, based on analysis of data from the entire 11-state region. The final volume will focus on organizational development and change. When the books resulting from the 1991 study were completed, the second and third volumes received the V.O. Key Awards from the Southern Political Science Association.
A UNCG faculty member since 1971, Prysby has been head of the Department of Political Science since 1993. His academic areas include political behavior and methodology. He is co-author of two books, "Political Choices" and "Political Choices and the Local Context." He is a past president of the N.C. Political Science Association. For many years, he was the state coordinator for the Voter News Service, formerly the News Election Service, which provides voting returns to news media for national elections. He holds the Ph.D. degree from Michigan State University.
Political scientists who will be coordinators in the 11-state region are: Alabama, Dr. Patrick Cotter of the University of Alabama and Dr. Sam Fisher of the University of South Alabama; Arkansas, Dr. Jay Barth of Hendrix College; Florida, Dr. Jonathan Knuckey of the University of Central Florida; Georgia, Dr. Brad Lockerbie and Dr. Audrey Haynes of the University of Georgia; Louisiana, Dr. Charles Hadley of the University of New Orleans; Mississippi, Dr. Stephen Shaffer and Dr. David Breaux of Mississippi State University; North Carolina, Prysby; South Carolina, Dr. Robert Steed and Dr. Laurence Moreland of The Citadel; Tennessee, Dr. Michael Gant of the University of Tennessee; Texas, Dr. Frank Feigert of the University of North Texas; and Virginia, Dr. John McGlennon of the College of William and Mary.
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