Disentangling Constituency and Legislator Effects in Legislative Representation: Black Legislators or Black Districts?^*

Abstract

Objective. Does the race of a legislator or does the black population of a district best predict legislative roll-call voting in the interests of African Americans? Due to methodological limitations, no prior study has found that both the race of the legislator and the black district population are significant predictors of congressional roll-call voting. Drawing on post Shaw v. Reno/Miller v. Johnson congressional districts (with greater data variance), I examine the effect of these two racial representation variables on roll-call voting in the 104th-106th Congresses. Methods. Linear regression with random effects is employed in two statistical models. Results. Even when the black district population and party are considered, the presence of an African-American legislator leads to greater substantive representation of black constituents. Conclusion. Districting plans that maximize the election of black legislators and Democrats are the most important for the aggregate enhancement of liberal voting in Congress, while districting plans that maximize black district populations and Democrats are the most important for the aggregate enhancement of civil rights voting records in Congress.

From Black and White to Left and Right: Race, Perceptions of Candidates’ Ideologies, and Voting Behavior in U.S. House Elections

“…Misperception of the ideologies of minority candidates may also affect the degree to which members of historically marginalized groups are descriptively represented. In addition to the benefits of descriptive representation that are not directly related to policy (Mansbridge 1999), the presence of minority representatives in legislatures enhances the substantive representation of minority interests (Ansolabehere et al 2001;Canon 1999;Grose 2005Grose , 2011Lublin 1997). Although race-based redistricting has led to greatly increased levels of descriptive representation for minorities, there are very few geographical areas in which new majority-minority congressional districts can potentially be drawn, even if the constitutionality of such redistricting processes is reaffirmed by federal courts.…”

“…18 The DW-Nominate scores used here are first dimension DW-Nominate scores, which are often interpreted as representing an economic ideological dimension, the dimension that is typically dominant in American politics. It is reasonable to think, however, that candidates' policy positions on issues related to civil rights-positions which do not fall neatly onto the economic dimension-are important in determining both citizens' perceptions of candidates' ideologies and the quality of substantive representation that citizens receive (Cameron et al 1996;Grose 2005;Swain 1995). As an alternative measure of candidates' ideologies, Leadership Council of Civil Rights (LCCR) scores might better tap such policy positions.…”

“…As an alternative measure of candidates' ideologies, Leadership Council of Civil Rights (LCCR) scores might better tap such policy positions. While it is important to note that LCCR scores, like DW-Nominate scores, are based only on votes on bills that make it to the floor for roll call votes, and hence may also fail to ideally capture differences in legislators' preferences regarding race-related issues, Grose (2005) finds that with appropriate controls in place, black legislators have significantly more liberal DW-Nominate scores but do not have more liberal LCCR scores. Nevertheless, I did estimate models of perceptions of candidates' ideologies using LCCR scores in place of DW-Nominate scores.…”

Race, Structure, and State Governments: The Politics of Higher Education Diversity

“…The findings of empirical studies are mixed, however, with some finding no relationship (Cameron, Epstein, and O'Halloran 1996;Lublin 1999), others findings strong relationships (Fraga, Meier, and England 1986;Grose 2006;Meier and Stewart 1991), some pointing to only ''indirect'' effects (Hero and Tolbert 1996), and some identifying contextual factors that mediate this relationship (Preuhs 2006). Theoretically, descriptive and substantive representation are almost inextricably linked, as we assume that minority representatives will inevitably behave differently than their Anglo counterparts in advocating for minority interests.…”

De onde vem nossas leis? Origem e conteúdo da legislação em perspectiva comparada

“…A diferente composição étnica nas cidades americanas explica as diferenças de performance do governo local sobre a distribuição de serviços públicos (Alesina, et alii, 1999c). Da mesma forma, a relação entre apoio da população negra no distrito e votos do deputado no Congresso mostra que os negros democratas se envolvem mais em questões ligadas a direitos civis (Grose, 2005). Outros autores encontram evidências de que uma fragmentação etnolingüística estaria negativamente associada à provisão de bens públicos (La Porta et alii, 1999).…”