Racism, Sexism, and Candidate Evaluations in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

In an attempt to understand the extent to which racism and sexism influenced affect toward Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, we analyze data from a national survey conducted in October 2008. Situating our investigation in previous examinations of modern racism and modern sexism, we test competing hypotheses about the role of these attitudes in the 2008 presidential election. Our results suggest that racism had a significant impact on candidate evaluations while sexism did not. We find that respondents who hold racist attitudes expressed negative attitudes toward Obama and positive attitudes toward Palin. When interacted with party identification, racism continued to exert a strong effect, indicating findings that are robust across partisan affiliations. Sexism, on the other hand, did not significantly influence evaluations of either Palin or Obama .     

Limousine Liberals and Corporate Conservatives: The Financial Constituencies of the Democratic and Republican Parties*

Objective. This study examines the backgrounds, political attitudes, issue preferences, and political participation of congressional donors who contribute $200 or more to congressional campaigns. Methods. We use a nationwide survey of more than 1,000 donors and analyze differences among these individuals using cluster analysis. Results. Although these significant donors are economic elites, we find they are not monolithic in their political views and attitudes. There are significant cleavages in the donor pool across and within the two major parties on various political issues and involvement in different political organizations. Perhaps most important, we find that the most active donors hold the most ideologically extreme political views. Conclusions. The results suggest that the sharp cross‐party differences and the meaningful variations within party coalitions, combined with the greater activity of more ideologically extreme donors, contribute to and reflect party polarization.     

Constructing Racism in Australia

There is a dearth of empirical evidence on the extent of racist attitudes, broadly defined, in Australia. A telephone survey of 5056 residents in Queensland and NSW examined attitudes to cultural difference, perceptions of the extent of racism, tolerance of specific groups, ideology of nation, perceptions of Anglo‐Celtic cultural privilege, and belief in racialism, racial separatism and racial hierarchy. The research was conducted within a social constructivist understanding of racisms. Racist attitudes are positively associated with age, non‐tertiary education, and to a slightly lesser extent with those who do not speak a language other than English, the Australia‐born, and with males. Anti‐Muslim sentiment is very strong, but there is also a persistence of some intolerance against Asian, Indigenous and Jewish Australians. Those who believe in racial hierarchy and separatism (old racisms) are a minority and are largely the same people who self‐identify as being prejudiced. The ‘new racisms’ of cultural intolerance, denial of Anglo‐privilege and narrow constructions of nation have a much stronger hold. Nonetheless, sociobiologically related understandings of race and nation remain linked to these new racisms. Narrow understandings of what constitutes a nation (and a community) are in tension with equally widely held liberal dispositions towards cultural diversity and dynamism. Encouragingly, most respondents recognise racism as a problem in Australian society and this is a solid basis for anti‐racism initiatives.     

Discrimination that Travels: How Ethnicity Affects Party Identification for Southeast Asian Immigrants*

Objectives. The critical importance of party identification as a determinant of vote choice is well documented. Given the increasing diversity of the population in the United States, it is critical that we understand the process of socialization into the political system for immigrant groups. It is especially important that we should be able to distinguish differences in socialization within a group. Methods. Using a framework developed by Cain, Kiewiet, and Uhlaner (1991) , we use newly available data to test their assertions about the development of party identification in Asian‐American immigrants. Results. Looking at a sample of foreign‐born Asian Americans, we find that critical differences can exist within groups. Conclusions. The differences within groups have an important effect on the development of party identification for those immigrants.     

Implicit Race Attitudes Predicted Vote in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

In the week before the 2008 United States presidential election, 1,057 registered voters reported their choice between the principal contenders (John McCain and Barack Obama) and completed several measures that might predict their candidate preference, including two implicit and two self-report measures of racial preference for European Americans (Whites) relative to African Americans (Blacks) and measures of symbolic racism and political conservatism. Greater White preference on each of the four race attitude measures predicted intention to vote for McCain, the White candidate. The implicit race attitude measures (Implicit Association Test and Affect Misattribution Procedure) predicted vote choice independently of the self-report race attitude measures, and also independently of political conservatism and symbolic racism. These findings support construct validity of the implicit measures.     

Perceptions of Racism in Hurricane Katrina: A Liberation Psychology Analysis

Poll data showed that African Americans perceived more racism in the response to Hurricane Katrina than did White Americans. In this article, we consider claims about racism in Katrina-related events in light of (a) our program of experimental research on group differences in perception of racism and (b) the meta-theoretical perspective of Liberation Psychology (LP). First, this analysis suggests that White Americans may perceive less racism in the Katrina disaster because they are less likely than African Americans to know about historically documented acts of past racism (e.g., following the Mississippi flood of 1927). Second, group differences may arise because African Americans and White Americans face divergent motivations regarding perception of racism. Whereas African Americans may have motivations to be vigilant for the possibility of racism, White Americans may be motivated to deny racism because it constitutes a threat to social identity and to the legitimacy of the status quo.     

Public Attitudes toward Abortion in Israel: A Research Note

Objective . For the first time since the mid-1970s, this study explored sociodemographic correlates of abortion attitudes among Israeli Jews and compared them with those reported by the General Social Survey in the United States. Methods . A survey in the representative sample of Jewish adults living in urban areas across Israel ( N = 546) that included two related items on the attitude toward abortion for nonvital reasons. Results . Using multiple regression, four statistically and socially significant correlates of antiabortion attitudes were identified: Greater religiosity (especially Ultra-Orthodox affiliation), lower than average income, greater number of children, and right-wing political preference. Gender and age did not emerge as significant correlates of abortion attitudes. Whereas American Jews form the mainstay of the prochoice camp, Jews in Israel are clearly divided along the lines of religiosity, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and political views. Conclusions . In both Israel and the United States, the sociodemographic profiles of abortion supporters and opponents have been rather similar and stable over the last 25 years. This may point to the stable patterns of religiosity in both societies, since antiabortion sentiments have mainly been fueled by religious fundamentalism, regardless of formal denomination.     

Understanding and Addressing Contemporary Racism: From Aversive Racism to the Common Ingroup Identity Model

This article describes our collaborative research on aversive racism and a strategy we developed to combat it, the Common Ingroup Identity Model. In addition, we reveal some details about our personal and professional relationship in pursuit of our scientific agenda. We begin by discussing evidence for the existence of aversive racism, a subtle, unintentional form bias that can have pernicious effects. Then we review research concerning how a common ingroup identity can combat aversive racism by redirecting the forces of social categorization and social identity, such that "Us" and "Them" are regarded as "We." We conclude with a brief discussion of where we may look next for clues toward helping to achieve a fairer, more just society.     

The electoral consequences of alienation: Nonvoting and protest voting in the 1992 presidential race

This article focuses on the context of the 1992 national elections in order to determine why certain alienated individuals chose to stay home on election day while others responded by voting for a third party Presidential candidate. Two dimensions of alienation, internal and external political inefficacy, are linked to lower levels of voting, as is consistent with previous research on voting behavior. In addition, we find that, among those who voted, those individuals who expressed political cynicism or external inefficacy were more likely to vote for Ross Perot. We conclude that, while many alienated individuals do not vote, the Perot candidacy in 1992 led certain alienated individuals to engage in “protest” voting by casting their vote for an unlikely winner in the presidential race.     

Comparative Political Economy of Long‐Term Care for Elderly People: Political Logic of Universalistic Social Care Policy Development

Despite there being common socio‐demographic pressures across advanced industrialized countries, the public elder care programmes therein tend to vary. While the current literature on social care devotes itself to describing the care arrangements of each country and pigeonholing welfare/gender regime types, it does not sufficiently address this empirical puzzle. This study looks to specify the causal relationship between political institutions and public long‐term care programmes. It argues that countries with personal‐vote‐oriented electoral systems and/or fragmented party systems have difficulties in developing universalistic public elder care programmes, whereas countries with party‐vote‐oriented electoral systems and cohesive party systems are likely to develop generous elder care programmes. For whilst the former types of political institutions prioritize patronage‐based, particularistic benefits, the latter types encourage political actors to appeal to broader constituencies through universalistic welfare programmes. This study tests this claim by examining pooled time‐series and cross‐section data of advanced democracies, from 1980 until 2001. The empirical results suggest that politicians' reliance on personal votes and the fragmentation of ruling coalitions impede the expansion of public spending for elder care.     

A Matter of Conscience? The Democratic Significance of 'Conscience Votes' in Legislating Bioethics in Australia

In Australia, members of a political party are expected to vote as a block on the instructions of their party. Occasionally a ‘conscience vote’ (or ‘free vote’) is allowed, which releases parliamentarians from the obligation to maintain party discipline and permits them to vote according to their ‘conscience.’ In recent years Australia has had a number of conscience votes in federal Parliament, many of which have focused on bioethical issues (e.g., euthanasia, abortion, RU486, and embryonic/stem cell research and cloning). This paper examines the use of conscience votes in six key case studies in these contested areas of policy‐making, with particular attention to their implications for promoting democratic values and the significance of women's Parliamentary participation.     

Racial Threat or Racial Contact? How Race Affected Third‐Party Presidential Voting in the Antebellum North*

Objective. In this study, the “racial threat” and “racial contact” hypotheses are evaluated in relation to voting for the Liberty and Free Soil Parties in the North during the 1840s. Methods. Regression models are used to predict the effect of county‐level black populations on Liberty and Free Soil vote percentages in relation to types of employment. Results. Racial threat occurred in high manufacturing counties, but racial contact/threat emerged in more agricultural counties. The effects vary by party and region of the North. Conclusion. The effects of racial context on political behavior during this era are mixed, much like modern political studies have uncovered.     

Personhood and Accounting for Racism in Conversation

Racism is traditionally studied from an individualistic perspective emphasising personality characteristics, motivations and basic cognitive processes. Some researchers have shifted their attention to the study of racist discourse. The present study tries to extend this work on discourse in two ways. First, by focusing on the everyday meaning of racism itself, rather than by defining racism and using this definition as the central analytical category. It is investigated how ethnic Dutch speakers when they talk and argue among themselves, reconcile racist talk with their identity as a reasonable and moral person. Second, conversational interactions were studied in order to examine the effectiveness of constructions. Few studies investigate the question of consequences of varying constructions. It is argued that in order to show that constructions play an important role in shaping subjects' understandings and actions it is necessary to go beyond textual deconstructions and to investigate conversations.     

Conceptualizing Racism and Its Subtle Forms

Many people are talking about being in a post‐racial era, which implies that we have overcome race and racism. Their argument is based on the fact that manyof the virulent manifestations of racism are not prevalent today. I argue that racism is not seen as prevalent today because the commonplace views of racism fail to capture the more subtle and insidious new forms of racism. I critically examine some of these views and indicate that racism, its forms and manifestations have changed over time. As such, racism may not be manifested in the standard obvious negative behaviors that people know and expect, but instead, it is manifested in even positive behaviors that the commonplace views may not identify as racism. I offer a view of racism that captures the new subtle forms of racism today, which are not as harmful and invidious as the older forms. Simply because the new forms of racism are not as obvious or harmful, this does not mean that racism no longer exists.     

Structured Partisan Competition: A Vote Shares Model of Party Alignments and Realignments*

Objective. This study develops and tests an aggregate “vote shares” model of party alignments and realignments, building a theoretical framework around “structured political composition” (Rabinowitz, Gurian, and Macdonald, 1984, p. 6). The vote shares model conceptualizes party alignments as latent class constructs, or factors, and changes in these latent class constructs as party realignments. Methods. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model with bias corrected bootstrap estimates and standard errors is used where the cases are counties and the variables are aggregate election outcomes. The data come from Kansas from 1900 to 2010. Results. Comparing the findings of the vote‐shares approach to those of Nardulli (2005) and Sundquist (1983) suggests that the vote shares model provides a greater depth of understanding and a more accurate portrait of the timing of realignments and the partisan bias of new alignments in Kansas. The vote shares model also overcomes the major problem of false positives associated with landslide elections, a problem that plagued most previous aggregate voting models. Conclusion. The vote‐shares model of party alignments and realignments provides a viable alternative for analyzing historic and current election returns where the votes are aggregated by a geographically defined government jurisdiction (parish, county, city, or district).     

选举权观念的更新——从选举法“四分之一条款”的废除说起

2010年选举法修改,废除"四分之一条款",实行城乡按相同人口比例选举人大代表,这象征着选举权观念从阶级论过渡到了权利论。选举权的阶级论,否定存在着抽象的、超阶级的选举权,其作为一种批判理论是深刻的,但也容易陷入工具主义的泥淖,将选举权局限在工具的意义上。选举权的权利论,强调权利主体的个体性、普遍性和平等性,其与政治正义论有着密切的关系。由于公平正义、和谐社会已成为我们社会的理想目标,选举权观念也有必要从阶级论过渡到权利论,承认选举权的道德权利性质。     

American Indian tribal government support of office-seekers: Findings from the 1994 election

How and why do American Indian tribal governments support political office-seekers? Using results from an extensive survey of tribal governments in Arizona and Oklahoma, our findings suggest that issues, rather than cultural ties or political party affiliation, are the primary impetus for American Indian tribal government support of candidates. Additionally, we examine several ways in which American Indians support candidates for office other than voting. This includes official endorsement, financial contributions, get out the vote efforts (GOTV), and volunteering for a candidate. Ultimately, our findings begin to uncover how and why American Indian tribal governments seek to influence the political process in the current era of evolving “government-to-government” relationships.     

Understanding public attitudes towards Social Security

There has been very little research on why individuals hold different attitudes toward Social Security. In this article we integrate social location theory and political predisposition theory to provide a framework of explanation and test these theories using a unique sample from the 1998 General Social Survey. Our multivariate results reveal that social structural positions along the lines of race, gender, class and age play a more important role than political predispositions in explain-ing individual differences in support for the current Social Security system against privatisation. Political party affiliation also partly contributes to variation in support for Social Security, but political ideology does not have a significant effect. Our results suggest that with regard to support for Social Security, primary consideration must rest on social structural positions. Racial minorities, women, the poor and the elderly tend to dislike a drastic change in the current Social Security system, and Social Security reform ought to pay attention to their concerns. Our robust finding of a positive relationship between age and support for Social Security also challenges much of the established knowledge, pointing to an intergenerational discord over Social Security. It is also important to differentiate among social welfare programmes in order to uncover the real determinants of public attitudes towards them.     

Economic Determinants of Voting in an Era of Union Decline*

Objective. The objective of this article is to test competing hypotheses regarding union vote effects by economic sector. Overlooked in existing research on political participation and the labor movement is de‐unionization's sectoral dimension: declining union rolls is a private‐sector phenomenon. The sectoral dimension of union decline carries important political consequences if the influence of unions on voter turnout varies by sector. Method. Using Current Population Survey (CPS) November Voting and Registration Supplements for all national elections between 1984 and 2006, I estimate union vote effects for public‐ and private‐sector employees. Results. The results of the analyses reveal that while union members continue to vote at higher rates than otherwise similar nonmembers, the union effect is nearly three times as large for private‐sector members: private‐sector unionists have a predicted probability of voting 6.7 points higher than nonmembers, while public‐sector members have a predicted probability of voting only 2.4 points higher than nonmembers. Conclusions. Given the small fraction of private‐sector workers now in labor unions, recent fluctuations in the unionization rate have little aggregate affect on turnout. Given that private‐sector union members tend to be less educated and earn less than their public‐sector counterparts, the near disappearance of private‐sector unions from the economic landscape removes an important institutional buffer against political inequality in the United States.     

Modeling offset policy in government procurement

This paper develops an empirical model to examine offset arrangements in government procurement. Offsets are non-standard contracts that governments use to extract rents from multinational corporations. Previous contributions focus on the transaction cost Taylor (2003); Udis and Maskus (1991); Liesch (1991) and bundling Hall and Markowski (1996) rationale for offsets. These studies are meaningful, but are devoid of quantitative models needed to test the theoretical claims. This study fills part of the gap in the literature. The results suggest that while economic variables (transaction costs, price, quality) are part of the offset selection process, political economy variables (security alliances and rent-seeking) tend to exert more influence on policy.