ABSTRACT
Why do the stakeholders in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) participate in it in the ways that they do-and with what intended and unintended consequences within and beyond the organization itself? One would think that by now we would know the answers because there would have been a good political science study of the NAACP. It is, after all, almost a century old, plenty of time to arouse curiosity. Its centennial is just two years away from the time of this essay’s composition. Also, it is one of the few truly federated national organizations with state and local chapters. Unlike many national organizations it is not based in Washington, DC-instead, its headquarters are in Baltimore. In that respect it is well suited for testing Theda Skocpol’s claims about the cross-class, civic educational, and policy-implementing roles of federated organizations such as the American Legion and the black fraternal organizations (think here of the Prince Hall Masons) about which she and her co-authors have written recently.
