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The Political Economy of State Fair Housing Laws before1968

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2016

William J. Collins
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Abstract

The combined influence of the Great Migration of African Americans and the civilrights movement propelled the drive for fair housing legislation, whichattempted to curb overt discrimination in housing markets. This drive culminatedin the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968. By that time, 57 percent of the U.S.population and 41 percent of the African American population already resided instates with a fair housing law. This article uses hazard models to analyze thediffusion of state fair housing legislation and to shed new light on thecombination of economic and political forces that facilitated the laws'adoption. Outside the South, states with larger union memberships, more Jewishresidents, and more NAACP members passed fair housing laws sooner than others.Including controls for a variety of competing factors does not undermine theestimates, and historical accounts of the legislative campaigns support thearticle's interpretation.

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Social Science History , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , Spring 2006 , pp. 15 - 49
Copyright
Copyright © Social Science History Association 2006 

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