Overview

As the lobbying arm of the civil rights movement, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR)—which has operated since the early 1950s—was instrumental in the historic legislative breakthroughs of the Second Reconstruction. The Civil Rights Lobby skillfully recounts the LCCR’s professional and grassroots lobbying that contributed to these signature civil rights policy achievements in the 1950s and ’60s. Shamira Gelbman explains how the diversity of this interest group coalition both hindered and enabled lobbyists to generate broad-based support for reforms that often seemed risky to legislators. They coordinated their efforts by identifying common ground among member organizations, developing coalitional positions on substantive and strategic questions, and exhorting organizations to mobilize professional and grassroots lobbying resources accordingly. The result was to “speak with one booming voice” to ultimately help secure the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  The Civil Rights Lobby concludes by reprising key lessons from the LCCR’s organizational development and participation in civil rights policymaking. Gelbman suggests new directions for research on interest group coalitions and explores how the Leadership Conference’s experience sheds light on the politics of the Second Reconstruction.

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9781439920466

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"""The Civil Rights Lobby is an exemplary case study of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and represents an important contribution to the study of coalitional advocacy, interest groups, and the politics of the Second Reconstruction. Among its many strengths, it will enrich readers’ appreciation of the difficult organizational work of coordination—a form of success unto itself, but one rarely recognized as such.""—Mobilization ""The Civil Rights Lobby offers a detailed examination of one of the most influential lobbying coalitions of the civil rights era, The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Delving deeply into the advocacy efforts of the Leadership Conference, the book suggests an important tension between coalition diversity and constraints on its ability to build consensus. Gelbman’s work provides insight into the extent to which, and circumstances under which, this tension can be mitigated by concerted organizational efforts.""—Interest Groups & Advocacy ""The Civil Rights Lobby makes a convincing case for focusing on organizational structure and coordination capacity in the study of interest group coalitions. It also offers valuable contributions for scholars of racial politics in the United States.... [T]he book offers a detailed case study of how marginalized groups can exercise power in quasi-democratic political institutions.""—Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics ""Gelbman’s careful analysis of archival records and interview data demonstrates that the LCCR [Leadership Conference on Civil Rights] played an essential coordinating role during the battle over the Civil Rights Act of 1964.... [T]he book’s strength lies in its detailed portrayal of this largely forgotten titan of civil rights advocacy, training, and service.... There are lessons here for today’s civil rights leaders.""—Journal of American History"

Author Information

Shamira Gelbman is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Wabash College.

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