Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for October 3, 2017
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
October 3, 2017: While Republicans are solidly in control of Congress, Democrats have a strong advantage in city governments. Among the largest 100 cities, 62 have Democratic mayors while only 29 have Republican mayors. Seven are independent and two could not be identified.
The impact of this local control is often overlooked. As noted in my recent book, Politics Has Failed: America Will Not, more than two dozen large U.S. cities now have a majority black population. These include Atlanta, Detroit, Birmingham, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Cleveland. In fact, even Richmond, Virginia—the capital of the old Confederacy—had a majority black population as of the 2010 census.[1]
“In each of those cases, minority rule—where national minorities constitute local majorities—allows minorities to protect themselves rather than look to courts as their source of solace.” Yale University’s Heather Gerken notes that this new dynamic “empowers racial minorities and dissenters.” What’s different now is that empowerment comes “not by shielding them from the majority, but by turning them into one.”[2]
Because local governments are more responsive to community control than state or federal governments, this new reality opens up the possibility of creative approaches for the nation’s racial dialogue to continue in a healthy manner.
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- October 2, 2017 – 122 billion dollars: increase in annual regulatory costs added during Obama administration
- September 29, 2017 – 4 trillion dollars in federal spending during Fiscal Year 2017
- September 28, 2017 – 64 percent of Americans believe football players should stand during national anthem
- September 27, 2017 – 295 years ago today, the Father of the American Revolution was born
- September 26, 2017 – 65 noteworthy endorsements in Alabama Senate primary
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Click here to check out the latest update.
The Number of the Day is broadcast on local stations across the country. An archive of these broadcasts can be found here.
Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
Ballotpedia is the nonprofit, nonpartisan Encyclopedia of American Politics.
See also
Footnotes
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
