Ronald W. Walters, a political activists for African-Americans, wrote a book called Black Presidential Politics in America: A Strategic Approach. In this book he makes the case that Blacks in America have a substantial effect in presidential elections. For example, he points out that the Black vote had provided the victory for president Carter. Walters also shows that Blacks have a great potential to influence the House of Representatives. He also presents ways to further increase the amount of power Blacks have in the political process.

In his book, Walters often talks about two reoccurring political strategies used by Black Elected Officials (BEOs) and groups focused upon African-American issues: Dependent-Leverage and Independent Leverage. The Former strategy is the attempt to influence the political atmosphere by gaining access to an existing party and changing the party platform. Logically, if Blacks were to lend their support to a party, said party would be more than willing to listen to the needs and desires of the Black community. In most of the cases written about in the book, it is the Democratic party that was the beneficiary of the Black vote.

This stradegy, while providing some great and much needed advantages, was not without fault. The Black vote was in danger of being a guarantee for the Democratic party. As such, less effort was put into appealing to the Black community. The shift to more conservative practices had also impeded the prevalence of Black issues in politics.

Independent-Leverage, on the other hand, seeks to become relevant by rewarding or punishing candidates as necessary. Instead of unwavering support of the Democratic Party, blacks would have a more neutral position between the parties. This would force the Democrates to make an effort to win the Black vote, and Republicans would see that Blacks are not only a potential swing-vote, but are also viable constituents rather than certain opponents.

Walters himself favors the second strategy as the former has not proven to be very effective in making African-American issues be taken seriously. The later, on the other hand, brings the community's voice to the forfront and allows for BEOs to become powerful leaders in the community and in higher offices.