UC San Diego

In what many view as a "post-racial" world, does race still have a significant influence the political behavior of whites? I argue that an increasingly racially diverse America necessitates a more dynamic look at how race might effect perceptions of minority candidates and influence public policy outcomes. In chapter 1, I test the relative role race plays in the evaluation of white voters for black, Asian, and Latino candidates of both major parties, examining observational data on Latinos and Asian candidates for the first time. I find that even after accounting for non-racial variables, white voters are less likely to vote for Hispanic and black Democrats because they are viewed as less competent and more ideologically extreme than similar white candidates. Meanwhile, I find that Asian candidates and minority Republicans are largely unaffected by these biases. In chapter 2, I examine the willingness of individuals to write their member of Congress in support of a non-racial political cause, which I experimentally treat with racial cues. I show that whites with higher levels of racial resentment are less likely to act politically in support of a policy perceived as benefiting ethnic and racial minorities. In chapter 3, I place an Asian candidate in a bi-racial electoral contest with a white candidate in three different informational contexts - a low-information context, with few political cues, an ideological context, featuring left -right ideological cues, and a foreign information context, featuring cues that emphasize an immigrant/foreigner status. I find that in a low-information context, Asian candidates do significantly better than white candidates. This advantage is largely diminished by placing Asian candidates in an ideological contest, however. And finally, I find that, contrary to expectations, Asian candidates are not significantly disadvantaged from being immigrant and foreign born