Racism, Resentment, and Regionalism: The South and the Nation in the 2008 Presidential Election
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.2011.32.0.131-154Abstract
This paper assesses the influences racial resentment and racial stereotypes on Southern and non-Southern white, Asian, and Hispanic voters in the 2008 presidential election. I use logistic regression to test the hypotheses that racial resentment and racial stereotypes influenced support for McCain and that the influence of these two variables is greater in the South than in the non-South. The findings suggest that racial resentment’s influence extends across both regions but that the affects of racial stereotypes is confined to the South. The analysis is replicated for U.S. House elections in 2008, finding that the impact of racial resentment and racial stereotypes is insignificant in both regions. In 2008, the influences of racism, resentment and regionalism on voting are confined to the presidential level.References
Abramowitz, Alan, and Kyle L. Saunders. 1998. Ideological Realignment of the U.S. Electorate. Journal of Politics 60:634-652. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2647642
Aistrup, J.A. 2010a. Southern Political Exceptionalism? Presidential Voting in the South and Non-South. Social Science Quarterly 91:906-927.
Aistrup, J.A., E.F. Kisangani, and R.L. Piri. 2010b. The Legacy of Race in 2008. Pp. 233- 250 in Presidential Elections in the South: Putting 2008 in Political Context, eds. B.D. Kapluck, R.P. Steed and L.W. Moreland. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Aistrup, Joseph A. 1996. Southern Strategy Revisited: Southern Republican Top-Down Advancement. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.
Allport, G.W. 1988. The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books Publishers.
American National Election Studies. 2010. ANES 2008-2009 Panel Study [dataset]. Stanford University and the University of Michigan [producers and distributors].
American National Election Studies. 2009. American National Election Study, 2008: Preand Post-Election Survey ICPSR25383-v1. Technical report Ann Arbor, MI: Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor].
Ansolabehere, Stephen, and Charles Stewart III. 2009. Amazing Race. Boston Review, January/February. http://www.bostonreview.net/BR34.1/ansolabehere_stewart.php.
Arkes, H.A., and P.E. Tetlock. 2004. Attributions of Implicit Prejudice, or 'Would Jesse Jackson Fail the Implicit Association Test?' Psychological Inquiry 15:53-58.
Bass, Jack, and Walter DeVries. 1976. The Transformation of the Southern Electorate. Basic Books, Inc.
Beck, P.A., and P. Lopatto. 1982. The End of Southern Distinctiveness. In Contemporary Southern Political Attitudes and Behavior, eds. L.W. Moreland, T.A. Baker, and R.P. Steed. New York: Praeger.
Black, Earl, and Merle Black. 1987. Politics and Society in the South. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Black, Earl, and Merle Black. 2002. The Rise of Southern Republicans. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Blanton, H., and J. Jaccard. 2008. Unconscious Racism: A Concept in Pursuit of a Measure. Annual Review of Sociology 34:277-297. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.33.040406.131632
Brewer, Mark D., and Jeffrey M. Stonecash. 2001. Class, Race Issues, and Declining White Support for the Democratic Party in the South. Political Behavior 23:131-155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1013033814576
Bullock, Charles S., Donna Hoffman, and Ronald K. Gaddie. 2005. The Consolidation of the White Southern Congressional Vote. Political Research Quarterly 58:231-243. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3595625 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/106591290505800204
Bullock, Charles S., Donna R. Hoffman, and Ronald Keith Gaddie. 2006. Regional Variations in the Realignment of American Politics, 1944-2004. Social Science Quarterly 87(3):494-518. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00393.x
Campbell, A., P.E. Converse, W.E. Miller, and D. Stokes. 1960. The American Voter. New York: Wiley.
Campbell, Angus. 1966. A Classification of Presidential Elections. In Elections and the Political Order, eds. Angus Campbell, Philip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and Donald E. Stokes. New York: John Wiley.
Carmines, Edward G., and Harold W. Stanley. 1990. Ideological Realignment in the Contemporary South: Where have all the conservatives gone. In The Disappearing South: Studies in Regional Change and Continuity, eds. Robert P. Steed, Laurence W. Moreland, and Tod Baker. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
Citrin, Jack, Donald P. Green, and David O. Sears. 1990. White Reactions to Black Candidates: When Does Race Matter? Public Opinion Quarterly 54:76-96.
Colleau, Sophie M., Kevin Glynn, Steven Lybrand, Richard M. Merelman, Paula Mohan, and James E. Wall. 1990. Symbolic Racism in Candidate Evaluation: An Experiment. Political Behavior 12:385-402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00992795
Cotter, Patrick, and J.G. Stovall. 1990. The Conservative South? American Politics Quarterly 18:103-119.
Cotter, Patrick R., Stephen D. Shaffer, and David A. Breaux. 2006. Issues, Ideology, and Political Opinions in the South. Pp. 219-240 in Writing Southern Politics, eds. Robert P. Steed and Laurence W. Moreland. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
Cowden, Jonathan A. 2001. Southernization of the Nation and Nationalization of the South: Racial Conservativsm, Social Welfare and White Partisans in the Unite States, 1956-92. British Journal of Political Science 31:277-301. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007123401000114
Edsall, T.B., and M.D. Edsall. 1992. Chain Reaction. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.
Feig, Douglas G. 1990. Dimensions on Southern Public Opinion on Prayer in Schools. In The Disappearing South? Studies of Regional Change and Continuity, eds. Robert P. Steed, L. W. Moreland, and Tod A. Baker. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
Feldman, Stanley, and Leonie Huddy. 2005. Racial Resentment and White Opposition to Race-Conscious Programs: Principles or Prejudice? American Journal of Political Science 49:168-183.
Fiorina, Morris P. 1981. Retrospective Voting in American National Elections. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Frederick, K.A., and J. L. Jeffries. 2009. A Study in African American Candidates for High-Profile Offices. Journal of Black Studies 39:689-718. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0021934707299641
Green, John C., Lyman A. Kellstedt, Corwin E. Smidt, and James L. Guth. 2002. The Soul of the South: Religion and Southern Politics at the Millenium. In The New Politics of the Old South: An Introduction to Southern Politics, 2nd ed., eds. Charles S. Bullock III, and Mark J. Rozell. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Green, John C., Mark J. Rozell, and Clyde Wilcox. 2003. The Christian Right in American Politics: Marching to the Millennium. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Henry, P.J., and D.O. Sears. 2002. The Symbolic Racism Scale. Political Psychology 23: 253-283.
Highton, Benjamin. 2004. White Voters and African American Candidates for Congress. Political Behavior 26:1-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:POBE.0000022341.98720.9e
Howell, Susan E. 1994. Racism, Cynicism, Economics, and David Duke. American Politics Quarterly 22:190-207. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1532673X9402200204
Jaccard, James. 2001. Interactive Effects in Logistic Regression. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Jeffries, J. L. 1999. U.S Senator Edward W. Brooke and Governor L. Douglas Wilder Tell Political Scientists How Blacks Can Win High-Profile Statewide Office. PS: Political Science and Politics 32:538-587.
Jeffries, Judson L. 2002. Press Coverage of Black Statewide Candidates: The Case of Douglas L. Wilder of Virginia. Journal of Black Studies 32:673-697. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00234702032006003
Key, V.O., Jr. 1949. Southern Politics in the State and Nation. New York: Knopf.
Kinder, Donald R., and David O. Sears. 1981. Prejudice and Politics: Symbolic Racism versus Racial Threats to the Good Life. Journal of Personality and Social-Psychology 40:414-431. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.40.3.414
Kinder, Donald R., and Tali Mendelberg. 2000. Individualism Reconsidered: Principles and Prejudice in Contemporary American Opinion. In Radicalized Politics: The Debate about Racism in America, eds. David O. Sears, James Sidanius, and Lawrence Bobo. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.
Klarner, Carl. 2008. The Racial Threat Hypothesis in the 2008 Presidential Election. Unpublished manuscript.
Knuckey, Jonathan. 2005. Racial Resentment and the Changing Partisanship of Southern Whites. Party Politics 11:5-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1354068805048470
Knuckey, Jonathan. 2006. Explaining Recent Changes in the Partisan Identifications of Southern Whites. Political Research Quarterly 59:57-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/106591290605900106
Lewis-Beck, Michael S., Charles Tien, and Richard Nadeau. 2010. Obama's Missing Landslide: A Racial Cost? PS: Political Science and Politics 43:69-76.
Long, J. Scott, and Jeremy Freese. 2006. Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables Using Stata, 2nd ed. College Station, TX: Stata Press Publication.
McConahay, John B. 1986. Modern Racism, Ambivalence, and the Modern Racism Scale. In Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism, eds. John Dovidio and Samuel L. Gaertner. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
McConahay, John B., and J.C. Hough. 1976. Symbolic Racism. Journal of Social Issues 32:23-46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1976.tb02493.x
McKee, Seth C. 2009. Republican Ascendency in Southern U.S. House Elections. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Miller, Warren, and Merrill J. Shanks. 1996. The New American Voter. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Oldfield, Duane M. 1996. The Christian Right in the Presidential Nominating Process. In In Pursuit of the White House-How We Choose Our Presidential Nominees, ed. William G. Mayer. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.
Peffley, M., and T. Shields. 1996. Whites' Stereotypes of African Americans and Their Impact on Contemporary Political Attitudes. In Research in Micropolitics, eds.M.X. Delli-Carpini, L. Huddy, and R. Shapiro. Stamford, CT: JAI Press.
Piston, Spencer. 2010. How Explicit Racial Prejudice Hurt Obama in the 2008 Election. Political Behavior 32:431-452. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11109-010-9108-y
Reeves, Keith. 1997. Voting Hopes or Fears? White Voters, Black Candidates, and Racial Politics in America. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rice, T.W., W.P. McLean, and A.J. Larsen. 2002. Southern Distinctiveness Overtime: 1972-2000. American Review of Politics 23:193-220.
Schneider, Paige L. 1998. Factionalism in the Southern Republican Party. American Review of Politics 19:129-148.
Schuman, H., C. Steeh, and L. Bobo. 1997. Racial Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations. Revised, eds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Schuman, H., C. Steeh, L. Bobo, and M. Krysan. 2005. Racial Attitudes in America:Trends and Interpretations, rev. ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Schuman, Howard. 2000. The Perils of Correlation, the Lure of Labels, and the Beauty of Negative Results. In Radicalized Politics: The Debate about Racism in America, eds. David O. Sears, James Sidanius, and Lawrence Bobo. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.
Sears, David O. 1988. Symbolic Racism. In Eliminating Racism: Profiles in Controversy, eds. P. Katz and D.A. Taylor. New York, NY: Plenum.
Sears, David O., and Donald R. Kinder. 1971. Racial Tensions and Voting in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles: Viability and Prospects for Metropolitan Leadership, eds. W.Z. Hirsch. New York: Praeger.
Shafer, Byron E., and Richard Johnston. 2006. The End of Southern Exceptionalism: Class, Race, and Partisan Change in the Post War South. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Shaffer, Stephen D., Stacie Berry Pierce, and Steven A. Kohnke. 2000. Party Realignment in the South: A Multi-Level Analysis. American Review of Politics 21:129-153.
Smith, Oran P. 1997. The Rise of Baptist Republicans. New York: New York University Press.
Sniderman, P.M., and E.G. Carmines. 1997. Reaching Beyond Race. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.
Sniderman, Paul M., and Michael G. Hagen. 1985. Race and Inequality: A Study in American Values. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.
Sniderman, Paul M., and Thomas Piazza. 1993. The Scar of Race. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sniderman, Paul M., and Edward H. Stiglitz. 2008. Race and the Moral Character of the Modern American Experience. The Forum 6(4):Article 1.
Sniderman, Paul M., and Philip E. Tetlock. 1986. Symbolic Racism: Problems of Motive Attribution in Political Analysis. Journal of Social Issues 42:129-150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1986.tb00229.x
Stoker, Laura. 1998. Understanding Whites' Resistance to Affirmative Action: The Role of Principled Commitments and Racial Prejudice. In Perception and Prejudice:Race and Politics in the United States, eds. J. Hurwitz and M. Peffley. New Haven,CT: Yale University Press.
Sundquist, J.L. 1983. The Dynamics of the Party System. Revised edition. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institute.
Terkildsen, Nayda. 1993. When White Voters Evaluate Black Candidates: The Processing Implications of Candidate Skin Color, Prejudice, and Self-Monitoring. American Journal of Political Science 37:1032-1053. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2111542
Valentino, Nicholas A., and David O. Sears. 2005. Old Times There Are Not Forgotten: Race and Partisan Realignment in the Contemporary South. American Journal of Political Science 49:672-688. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2005.00136.x
Virtanen, Simo V., and Leonie Huddy. 1998. Old-Fashioned Racism and New Forms of Racial Prejudice. Journal of Politics 60:311-332. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2647911
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with American Review of Politics agree to the following terms:
The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
Attribution: other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
Non-Commercial: the materials may not be used for commercial purposes;
Share Alike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
The Author represents and warrants that:
the Work is the Author’s original work;
the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
the Work has not previously been published;
the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.