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George C. Wallace and the Politics of Powerlessness
The Wallace Campaigns for the Presidency, 1964-76
Overview
This is the only complete study of the Wallace phenomenon. It covers all of the presidential campaigns and views Wallace from a variety of vantage points: historical context, content analysis of speeches, and analysis of election data, including voting statistics and attitudinal patterns of supporters. Politics of Powerlessness examines nationwide support for George C. Wallace in the presidential campaigns of 1964, 1968, 1972, and 1976. A number of election and candidate preference surveys are used as sources of data on supporters. An understanding of Wallace's appeal is provided through an examination of themes noted throughout his speeches and an analysis of his political history from biographical sources, personal interviews, and newspaper accounts of the time. The picture of Wallace that emerges is one of a man who saw himself as a crusader for his supporters' interests, while deliberately heightening and intensifying their feelings of powerlessness as a means of getting votes.
Analysis and Significance
Carlson shows that Wallace voters were not marginal. They did not reflect a loss of status, nor were they simply outside the mainstream of political life. They were very much like major party voters, with the exception of their feelings of political powerlessness that came about by increased government participation in state politics. This work is informed not only by a careful analysis, but by interviews with Wallace, many of his followers, and people active in his campaigns. The work has the additional advantage of having follow-up analyses and interviews as late as 1978. In this sense, it represents not only a scholarly analysis of the Wallace phenomenon, but the most up-to-date analysis as well.
