A Natural Experiment of Race-Based and Issue Voting
The 2001 City of Los Angeles Elections
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6340470 |
|---|---|
| Authors | M Abrajano (0000-0002-4818-3470, New York University), Marisa A Abrajano (New York University/Texas A&M Jonathan Nagler, New York University), R Michael Alvarez (0000-0002-8113-4451, California Institute of Technology) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 203-218 |
| Publication date | 2005-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Research Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1065-9129 • E-ISSN: 1938-274X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591290505800202 |
| OpenAlex | W2045761057 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 44 |
| References cited | 79 |
The theory of racially polarized voting suggests that race is a primary determinant of vote choice in elections where a minority candidate is pitted against a white candidate. The spatial model of voting suggests that voters consider the issue positions of candidates and choose the candidate closest to their own positions. The unique context of the 2001 Los Angeles city election allows us to test these two theories. In each of two races in this election, a Latino candidate competed against a white candidate. In one race the white candidate was considered more liberal, while in the other race the Latino candidate was seen as more liberal. This particular ethnic and ideological composition provides us with a natural experimenting which to test the two competing theories. While voter ethnicity mattered, we show that consistent with the spatial model, voters also relied on issues and ideology as factors in their voting choices. By considering the choices voters are making in two different elections, we argue that estimates of the extent of racial voting in previous research may be overstated
Context (archaeology · Ethnic group · Geography · Ideology · Natural experiment · Political science · Politics · Race (biology · Sociology · Statistics · Test (biology · Voting · Voting behavior · White (mutation · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law · Mathematics · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
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| Unique citing works | 44 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,1 |
| Citation span | 2005 - 2025 (21) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 44 |