White attitudes about descriptive representation in the US: the roles of identity, discrimination, and linked fate

• Published in: Politics, groups & identities groups & identities, 2017-01, Vol.5 (1), p.84-106
• Main Author: Schildkraut, Deborah J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitudes; Candidates; Descriptive representation; Discrimination; Elections; Ethnic identity; Fate; identity; linked fate; Political representation; Political science; Representation; White people
• ISSN: 2156-5503; 2156-5511
• DOI: 10.1080/21565503.2015.1089296

Many white Americans feel that whites are discriminated against, identify as white, and feel a sense of linked fate with whites. Scholars have studied these psychological connections to one's racial group among nonwhites, but little attention in political science has been given to how they operate among whites. However, changing social, demographic, and electoral patterns point to inevitable challenges to their traditional status and power. This study examines the extent to which these psychological connections to whites as a group exist and shape how whites feel about descriptive representation. Using a nationally representative survey, it finds that identifying as white, thinking whites are discriminated against, and seeing one's fate as tied to the fate of whites overall are common and make it more likely that whites will say it is important to have a political candidate who is white. These findings reveal a striking similarity in how whites and nonwhites form attitudes about descriptive representation. The implications of these findings given ongoing social and political trends are discussed.