Wayne Parent is Russell Long Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Louisiana State University. He is a frequent commentator on national and Louisiana politics for the media, including Nightline, CBS Sunday Morning, All Things Considered, Voice of America Radio, CNN News, New York Times, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, and U.S. News and World Report. Parent is the co-editor of Blacks and the American Political System. His articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Western Political Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, Polity, Journal of Black Studies and Political Methodology.