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Conditional Representation: Presidential Rhetoric, Public Opinion, and the Representation of African American Interests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2016

Tatishe M. Nteta ,
Jesse H. Rhodes  and
Melinda R. Tarsi
Tatishe M. Nteta*
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Jesse H. Rhodes
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Melinda R. Tarsi
Affiliation:
Bridgewater State University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Tatishe M. Nteta, Department of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Thompson Hall, 200 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003. E-mail: nteta@polsci.umass.edu
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Abstract

Conventional theories of presidential representation suggest that presidents avoid courting African Americans for fear of alienating white voters, leading to the underrepresentation of “black interests.” We argue that presidential representation of black interests is conditional: when (1) African Americans prioritize issues other than economic redistribution and civil rights and (2) when these priorities overlap with those of whites, presidents should provide considerable representation of those interests. We test our theory using two new sources of data: a dataset of black and white perceptions of the US's most important problem between 1968 and 2012; and a quantitative content analysis of over 200 major presidential speeches from 1969-2012. We find that presidents provide substantial representation of black interests, but only when these interests center on non-racialized concerns and overlap with the priorities of whites. We also find that presidential priorities are often independent of the chief concerns of both African Americans and whites.

Keywords

representationpublic opinionracepresidents
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , September 2016 , pp. 280 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2016 

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