Offers a systematic, theoretical, and structural framework for more accurate appraisal of the relative nature and influence of governing institutions and of past, present, and recurring developments on African-American and American Politics generally. It's a dynamic systematic appraisal of how African Americans fare within the prevailing theoretical, structural, and functioning patterns of the American political and governmental system. Offers new materials on Black Political participation and voting behavior, e.g., who votes in the Black community; the role of race, class, and gender in Black politics; the role of the economy in shaping the Black vote; the Black evaluations of their representatives in Congress. Comments on the changing nature and structure of African-American participation and influence in Congress and the Presidency: e.g., the Congressional Black Caucus and the overall relative role and participation of Blacks in congress and in the Clinton Presidency and Administration.