ABSTRACT
This chapter examines whether at-large systems have equally inhibiting effects on the election of black women and black men. It compares black women with white women to see if patterns of the structure-representation linkage are similar for all women. The chapter also examines the proportionality of representation in cities employing at-large, single-member district, and mixed systems using a ratio measure. Because the ratio measure of black representation has methodological problems, the chapter employs a regression analysis technique used by Engstrom and McDonald. To examine overall black representation, instead of creating a ratio measure of equity, they regressed the proportion of the city's council that is black on the proportion of the city's population that is black. The chapter presents the single equation as three separate ones, reflecting the impact of black female population in the presence of at-large, mixed, and district systems. It analyses several predictors of representation of each race-gender group.
