W
EAVER
4
The Color of the Campaign
factor determining campaign contributions for black candidates in a study of Charlotte, North
Carolina.
Other studies have focused on white attitudes on racial policies.
Hajnal’s study
examines the racial attitudes and policy preferences of whites prior to and after the election of a
black mayor, finding that racially tolerant attitudes among whites increase under black
leadership. In addition, white voting behavior changes after a black mayoralty, with whites more
willing to vote for a black candidate.
They hypothesize that racialized voting is a product of
whites uncertainty and low information about how blacks will perform once in office. Therefore,
white voters don’t have any information but racial stereotypes to go on.
However, when the
black challenger becomes an incumbent in succeeding elections opposition to black officials
greatly diminishes because they now have a record in office.
The experimental studies that have dealt with the impact of the race of a candidate on
voting have also been problematic. Most are based on non-probability samples like students on
college campuses that have little external validity. The experimental analyses are marred by
another defect; they all use candidate descriptions rather than visual stimuli. Visual stimuli are
stronger manipulations,
especially given that in the real world a candidate’s race is more
“readily discernable” than other characteristics like religion.
Most expose subjects to only one
candidate
; absent a referential candidate, extrapolating conclusions based on levels of support
6
Arrington, Theodore and Gerald L. Ingalls. “Race and Campaign Finance in Charlotte, N.C.” The Western
Political Quarterly 37:4 (Dec. 1984): 578-583.
7
Gilens, Martin. “’Race coding’ and white opposition to welfare,” American Political Science Review (1996)
90:593-604. See also Alvarez, R. Michael and John Brehm. “Are Americans Ambivalent Towards Racial
Policies?” American Journal of Political Science 41:2 (Apr. 1997): 345-374.
8
Hajnal, Zoltan. “White residents, Black incumbents, and a declining racial divide,” American Political Science
Review 95:3 (Sept.2001), 603-617.
9
Ibid.
10
Gilens, Martin. Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy.” Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1999.
11
Bullock.
12
Terkildsen. See also Sigelman, et al.
Convention