We examine conditions under which runoff elections are likely to occur. Based on an analysis of primary elections for New Orleans' municipal offices from 1965 through 1990, we find that incumbency significantly reduces the likelihood of a runoff. Under certain conditions race may play something of a secondary role—our findings suggest that in the New Orleans context incumbency status may enable white, more than black incumbents to avoid a runoff. Our overall conclusion, however, is that incumbency per se makes a runoff unlikely.
The integrity of the individual states as components of the United States" system of federalism depends upon effective representation of the states interests at the national level. The states’ delegations to the U.S. Senate are of prime importance in this capacity, especially when deciding between federal authority and state discretion. We find that the votes of state delegations to the 101st U.S. Senate on issues of federalism can be broken into four conceptual areas, and that the effectiveness of the representation of state federalism interests depends upon the specific federalism concept under consideration.
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