City-County Consolidation: Three Rural Georgia Counties

Abstract

Although the number of successful urban city-consolidations has slowed over the past thirty years, few studies examine political impacts of consolidation in rural areas. To address this gap in the political science literature, I analyze potential political impacts of rural city-county consolidation upon Black political interests. Conducting a comparative analysis of state agency and media data, I examine changes in electoral participation at the federal, subnational, and county level. Results indicate that political participation among Blacks has not change significantly and that women may not be served well politically with the dissolving of rural municipal governments.