The Persistence of Racial Cues and Appeals in American Elections

Stephens-Dougan, LaFleur

doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-082619-015522

Cited by 17 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…The present studies underscore the complexity of factors that come into play when voters choose the politicians they think best represent them. Overall, our studies reaffirm the impact that skin tone, political ideology, and voter identity have on interpersonal judgments (e.g., Jardina, 2019; Kemmelmeier & Chavez, 2014; Stephens‐Dougan, 2021) and expand previous work on the importance of race/ethnicity as a heuristic used to judge political candidates (e.g., Anderson et al., 2020; Martin & Blinder, 2020). The results from our set of studies have important theoretical and practical implications, calling attention to the relevance of understanding the multitude of factors that influence voting behavior in an increasingly diverse nation, and informing scholars and political strategists who seek to work toward a more diverse and representative political landscape.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Dark faces in white spaces: The effects of skin tone, race, ethnicity, and intergroup preferences on interpersonal judgments and voting behavior

Chirco

Buchanan

2022

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

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Across three experimental studies, we explored how a political candidate's intersections of skin tone, race, and ethnicity affect voting preferences and interpersonal judgments (e.g., warmth, trustworthiness, expertise). Study 1 assessed whether White participants would favor a light‐skinned (vs. dark‐skinned) African American candidate. Study 2 investigated participant (White vs. non‐White) voting preferences based on the interaction between candidate race/ethnicity and relative skin tone (lighter vs. darker). In Study 3, we examined the influence of candidate race/ethnicity on voters’ preferences as well as the accuracy and impact of memory for candidate skin tone. Supporting our hypotheses, White participants generally held more negative attitudes (e.g., expressed less warmth, perceived candidates as less trustworthy) and were less likely to vote for underrepresented candidates with darker skin tones than non‐White participants were. Additionally, voters remembered politicians as having a lighter skin tone, and the extent of such bias predicted warmth, perceived trustworthiness, and expertise of the candidate. While candidate race/ethnicity on its own did not affect voting preferences and attitudes, it significantly influenced voters when race/ethnicity was associated with certain skin tones (i.e., brown skin tone). Theoretical, practical, and political implications for judgments influenced by skin tone and race/ethnicity of candidates are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Dark faces in white spaces: The effects of skin tone, race, ethnicity, and intergroup preferences on interpersonal judgments and voting behavior

Chirco

Buchanan

2022

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

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“…These results challenge the idea that parties consistently face an electoral penalty when they nominate racial and ethnic minority candidates (Doherty, Dowling, and Miller 2019;Fraga and Hassell 2021;Stephens-Dougan 2021). Such a perspective may have kept party elites from promoting and supporting candidates of colour, thus reinforcing the bigotry that undermines the fortunes of ambitious and talented candidates of colour.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Evaluating the Minority Candidate Penalty with a Regression Discontinuity Approach

White,

Shah,

Juenke

et al. 2024

Brit. J. Polit. Sci.

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Do parties face an electoral penalty when they nominate candidates of colour? We employ a regression discontinuity design using state legislative election data from 2018, 2019, and 2020 to isolate the effect of nominating a candidate of colour on a party's general election performance. Utilising this approach with real-world data heightens external validity relative to existing racial penalty studies, largely supported by surveys and experiments. We find no evidence that candidates of colour are disadvantaged in state legislative general elections relative to narrowly nominated white candidates from the same party. These findings challenge the leading explanations for the underrepresentation of racial/ethnic minority groups, with implications for candidate selection across the United States.

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“…Discussions of race in education are likely to prime racial considerations (for a recent review of racial priming, see Stephens-Dougan, 2021). Yet we suspect that the term CRT will be more likely to also activate partisan considerations.…”

Section: Critical Race Theory Partisanship and White Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Race Theory: How Policy Language Differentially Engages Symbolic Racism and Partisanship

Carbone,

Harell,

Soroka

2024

Perspect. polit.

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Recent years have seen a marked shift in the salience and politicization of any incorporation of race into teaching at the elementary and secondary levels. “Critical race theory” (CRT) has become a prominent feature of the current debate, even as there is a good deal of misunderstanding about what CRT actually is. Drawing on a pre-registered survey experiment, we consider the impact of the phrase “critical race theory” in activating both racial biases and partisan identity. Our expectation was that CRT would tend to activate partisanship independent of symbolic racism. Results suggest otherwise: where support for culturally relevant pedagogy is concerned, CRT appears to engage partisanship particularly amongst those who exhibit high levels of symbolic racism.

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The Persistence of Racial Cues and Appeals in American Elections

Cited by 17 publications

References 86 publications

Dark faces in white spaces: The effects of skin tone, race, ethnicity, and intergroup preferences on interpersonal judgments and voting behavior

Dark faces in white spaces: The effects of skin tone, race, ethnicity, and intergroup preferences on interpersonal judgments and voting behavior

Evaluating the Minority Candidate Penalty with a Regression Discontinuity Approach

Critical Race Theory: How Policy Language Differentially Engages Symbolic Racism and Partisanship

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