The Urban Voter: Group Conflict and Mayoral Voting Behavior in American Cities. By Karen M. Kaufmann. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004. 248p. $60.00 cloth, $24.95 paper.

In her book, Karen M. Kaufmann persuasively argues that context shapes the degree to which racial and ethnic factors structure voting in mayoral elections. While this may sound obvious, what is not obvious is determining which contextual factors matter and how they matter to urban voters. Her answer, in part, provides an explanation for how two quintessentially Democratic cities—Los Angeles and New York City—elected (and reelected) Republican mayors during the 1990s, a fact that alarmed local activists and intrigued both urban scholars and political pundits alike.