"The Two Reconstructions blends sophisticated theory, nuanced history, creative analysis, and smooth writing. Valelly uses political science to rewrite one of the most important themes in American history. The argument is powerful and original, and the scholarship is nothing short of dazzling."
 

James A. Morone

"In this well researched and historically rich study, Valelly proclaims loudly: institutions matter! His comparison of the failure of the first reconstruction with the success of the second, point to the importance of institutional structures to the formation of coalitions necessary to sustain black America’s foothold in the American political system. This is a major contribution and a must read for American politics and race."

Paula D. McClain, coauthor of Can We All Get Along? Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics

"The Two Reconstructions is an important book that rightly places the issue of black enfranchisement at the center of the story of American democracy. Fusing historical research with the deft use of political science theory, Valelly significantly deepens our understanding of the long and all-too-halting evolution of African American political rights. With the Voting Rights Act up for renewal in 2007, The Two Reconstructions is a timely study of our past with direct bearing on our future."

Alexander Keyssar

"A terrific piece of scholarship. Valelly does a superb job of suggesting the ways in which differences in party and jurisprudence building contributed to the starkly different outcomes of the first and second reconstructions. Valelly’s work is an absolutely essential source for scholars, lawyers, and policy makers who want to understand why the political aspects of the first reconstruction failed and how the second reconstruction managed to stabilize itself."

Pamela S. Karlan

"In these days of microscopic studies in the social sciences and humanities, the author’s breadth of intellectual concern is admirable indeed."

Political Science Quarterly

"A valuable contribution to the literature on American political development and the Reconstruction era that should be of some interest to judicial scholars, especially those interested in supplementing their knowledge of the non-judicial aspects of the first Reconstruction."

Emery G. Lee III | Law and Politics

“Richard M. Valelly’s magisterial work The Two Reconstructions will stand for a long time as the definitive political analysis of racial suppression and redemption in American democracy. . . . Valelly [compares] the two reconstructions in every dimension—the coalition politics on which they rested, the role of courts, the dynamics of Southern white resistance, and the legislative and judicial means for securing democracy. Many of the instruments of the second reconstruction, such as federal registrars, were echoes of the aborted first one. Likewise, the subterfuges devised by white supremacists to destroy black suffrage in the late 19th century were often the same ones still deployed, or redeployed, a century later. . . . With the [Voting Rights Act] up for renewal in 2007, Valelly shows how more conservative courts and new tactics of vote dilution or suppression again put full democracy at risk. ‘As a country, we still have important business to do.’”

Robert Kuttner | American Prospect

"Valelly has written a book that offers a rich database of facts contrasting a successful and unsuccessful instance of institutionalization. It deserves to be read by social movement scholars and political sociologists, as well as anyone with an interest in the roots of black social inequality."

Martin Ruef | American Journal of Sociology

"This is the best work ever written comparing Reconstruction after the Civil War with the reconstruction of race relations since World War II. Combining a mastery of the vast historical literature with a political scientist’s emphasis on the ways coalitions are built, maintained, and eroded, Vallely convincingly pushes economic and cultural factors to the side and restore mass and judicial politics to their rightful place at the center of the histopry of racial change in America. On questions large and small . . . Vallely consistently illuminates."

J. Morgan Kousser | Law and History Review

"Valelly has made and judicious use of history. It is a timely and instructive book to read."

Steven F. Lawson | Journal of Southern History