9/18/07 - Mc Kenzie wins second award for book on black civic participation

Brian D. Mc Kenzie, assistant professor of political science, was awarded the 2007 American Political Science Association's Ralph J. Bunche Book Award for Countervailing Forces in African-American Civic Activism, 1973-1994. The book was co-authored by Mc Kenzie with Fredrick Harris and Valeria Sinclair-Chapman.

"I am very pleased and humbled to receive this award for our work, which explores the phenomenon of ethnic and cultural pluralism," Mc Kenzie said. "To be included among the past winners is an honor."

Countervailing Forces in African-American Civic Activism also received the 2006 W. E. B. DuBois Outstanding Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.

The book is the first-ever study assessing changes in black civic participation after the civil rights movements. It demonstrates that changes in activism are explained by two sets of countervailing forces: black political power and economic conditions in black communities.

Mc Kenzie received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Texas A&M University in 2004, he was a visiting assistant professor at Emory University and fellow at the University of Rochester's Center for the Study of African-American Politics from 2002-2003.

His current research focuses on black civic and political participation, American public opinion, and religion and politics. He is also interested in general questions regarding citizens' political attitudes and voting behavior.

Mc Kenzie's articles have appeared or are forthcoming in leading scholarly journals including the Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, and Political Behavior. He teaches courses on race, ethnicity and politics, American political behavior and religion and politics.