Brandon R. Davis, Department of Political Science
The goal of this research project is to transform our understanding of how minorities and oppressed activists develop strategic capacity and sustain legal campaigns focused on enforcing voting rights. The Alabama Democratic Conference (ADC) is arguably the most successful political organization ever in the use of law for political purposes.
The ADC’s successful desegregation of Alabama politics is unrivaled in American history, making them the ideal case. It is critical that the knowledge and the experiences of ADC members be recorded before many of the central participants are no longer able to tell the story of the ADC’s unparalleled usage of law to enforce voting rights.
Understanding how this political organization was formed and how it developed strategic capacity and effectively capitalized on the support structure for legal mobilization, in a hostile social context, is extremely relevant today regarding voting rights and rights enforcement in general, from Indigenous peoples environmental justice campaigns to anti-transgender legislation.
This research project will create a repository of material more comprehensive than what is currently available on minority political organizations and their legal campaigns. A short documentary will be created and disseminated to a wide audience, from local to national civic and political organizations and from secondary schools to graduate seminars. Lastly, this research project will incorporate underrepresented students at all stages of the research, increasing their sense of belonging, which is highly correlated with academic outcomes, and imparting research and job readiness skills.
Time, eligibility, and other details
| Expected workload | The logistics team will contact participants and any additionally persons identified through snowball sampling. During this stage, research assistants will provide information about the study to prospective interviewees via telephone conversation and traditional mail exchanges. The data collection team will consist of a group dedicated to interviewing, correcting transcripts, and data management. The data collection team will also oversee the digitizing and cataloging of all the documentation and photographs obtained. The data analysis team will conduct first cycle of coding consisting of attribute, structured, versus, and narrative coding. The categories will reflect the research questions surrounding the social context, strategic capacity, and the support structure for legal mobilization, and approaches to voting rights enforcement at the local, county and state level. |
| Skills required | Organizational Skills, Reading Comprehension, Attention to Detail, Excel, Adobe, & Word |
| Who is eligible | All Undergraduates are eligible. Sophomores and Juniors preferred. |
| Core partners | N/A |
| Sponsoring party | Faculty led 5 year NSF funded research project. |
| Volunteer, Paid, or Credit-eligible? | PAID, Hourly $10.00 |
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