The House as a Stepping Stone to the Senate
Why Do So Few African American House Members Run
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6230328 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gbemende Johnson (0000-0003-3191-9645, Vanderbilt University), Bruce I Oppenheimer (Vanderbilt University), Jennifer L Selin (0000-0002-4018-6159, Vanderbilt University) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 387-399 |
| Publication date | 2012-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00562.x |
| OpenAlex | W2100068163 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 19 |
| References cited | 59 |
Although a commonly recognized pathway to the U.S. Senate is through the U.S. House of Representatives, only four African American House members have run for the Senate since the passage of the 17th Amendment, and none have been elected. We examine why so few African American House members run for the Senate. Using an original dataset that includes all House members in the 102nd through the 110th Congresses, we explore the decision of House members, particularly African American House members, to run for the Senate. Despite the fact that so few African American House members have run for the Senate, our results raise doubts about the existence of direct race‐based explanations. Instead, we demonstrate with mediation analysis that contextual factors linked to race, such as state population, ability to raise campaign funds, and ideological extremity, play an intervening role in the strategic decision to run. These findings have normative implications for descriptive representation
African american · House of Representatives · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Population · Race (biology · Representation (politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Demography · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · History · Law · Policy Transfer and Learning
Alphabet Soup
Stepping up
Riled up about running for office
Women and unequal voice in governors’ races
The Race After the Race
A Bigger Tent? Nonwhite Republican Candidates and Their Uphill Paths to Office
Sex, Campaign Contributions, and State Courts of Last Resort
Identity in Campaign Finance and Elections
Outside of the Old Boys Club? Gender Differences in Outside Groups’ Advertising Support for U.S. Senate Candidates
Why are African American Governors and U.S. Senators so Rare? Exploring White Voters’ Responses to African American Statewide Candidates
Agents of Change? Women Candidates and Support for Campaign Finance Reform
Advancing Research on Gender and Gubernatorial Campaign Finance
Black Candidates and Black Turnout
Diversity and Power
Which MPs get elevated to the UK House of Lords
The question of equal representation of citizens in the legislature of Nepal
Women Don't Run? Election Aversion and Candidate Entry
Black Politicians Are More Intrinsically Motivated to Advance Blacks’ Interests
Ignorance Is Bias
Congress in Black and White
It Takes a Candidate
Causal Mediation Analysis Using R
How Black Candidates Affect Voter Turnout
Process Analysis
A Simple, Positive Semi-Definite, Heteroskedasticity and Autocorrelation Consistent Covariance Matrix
Mediation Analysis
The Congressional Black Caucus
Strategy, Selection, and Candidate Competition in U.S. House and Senate Elections
A Simulation Study of Mediated Effect Measures
Women, War, and Winning Elections
Women, War, and Winning Elections
House to Senate Career Movement in the U. S. States
Women Candidates in Open-Seat Primaries for the U. S. House
Determinants of Candidate Emergence in U. S. House Elections
Black Elected Officials
Some New Results on Indirect Effects and Their Standard Errors in Covariance Structure Models
Racial Representation and U.S. Senate Apportionment
Sizing Up the Senate
Emerging Influentials in State Legislatures
Sociocultural Variables and Legislative Recruitment
The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research
The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research
The Not-So-Simple Calculus of Winning
A Solution to Separation in Binary Response Models
Party System Change and Political Career Structures in the U. S. Congress
Avarice and Ambition in Congress
Name Recognition and Candidate Support
Progressive Ambition in the House
African Americans' Congressional Careers and the Democratic House Delegation
The Primary Reason for Women's Underrepresentation? Reevaluating the Conventional Wisdom
The Supply Side of Congressional Redistricting
The Sense of a Woman
The Impact of Gender Stereotyped Evaluations on Support for Women Candidates
White Voters and African American Candidates for Congress
Logistic Regression in Rare Events Data
Choosing to Run
Black Representation
When White Voters Evaluate Black Candidates
Gender Stereotypes and the Perception of Male and Female Candidates
Political Women and Political Ambition
To Run or Not to Run for Office
Entering the Arena? Gender and the Decision to Run for Office
Risk-Bearing and Progressive Ambition
Black Candidates, White Voters
Racial Redistricting and Realignment in Southern State Legislatures
Strategy and Choice in the 1982 Congressional Elections
Can Black Candidates Win Statewide Elections
Do Majority-Minority Districts Maximize Substantive Black Representation in Congress
A Theory of Political Ambition
An Analysis of Congressional Career Decisions, 1947-1986
Racial Redistricting and African-American Representation
Why Women Don't Run
Ambition Theory and the Black Politician
Black Elected Officials
| Unique citing works | 19 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,46 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2026 (14) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 19 |