Close to Home: Place-Based Mobilization in Racialized Contexts

How do racially concentrated policy changes translate to political action? Using official election returns, the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, and original data on the unprecedented mass closure of schools in segregated, predominantly Black neighborhoods across Chicago, we demonstrate tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American political science review 2021-08, Vol.115 (3), p.757-774
Main Authors: NUAMAH, SALLY A., OGORZALEK, THOMAS
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude Change
Attitudes
Ballots
Closure
Community
Community Relations
Congressional elections
Cooperation
Education
Education policy
Evaluators
Feedback
Formal organization
Geographic Location
Government (Administrative Body)
Health care policy
Local elections
Minority groups
Mobilization
Neighborhoods
Participation
Partisanship
Personal experiences
Policy making
Political action
Political activism
Political advertising
Political Attitudes
Political behavior
Political Issues
Political science
Racial Bias
School Closing
School closures
School Policy
Schools
Voter behavior
Voters
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Summary:How do racially concentrated policy changes translate to political action? Using official election returns, the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, and original data on the unprecedented mass closure of schools in segregated, predominantly Black neighborhoods across Chicago, we demonstrate that those living in the communities affected (1) increase their attendance at political meetings; (2) mobilize in support of ballot measures to avert future closings; and (3) increase their participation in the subsequent local election, while decreasing their support for the political official responsible for the policy on the ballot—at a higher rate than every other group. These findings shed light on how groups that previously participated at the lowest rates go on to participate at the highest rates on community issues that matter to them. We develop a theory of place-based mobilization to explain the role of “the community” in acting as a site of coidentification and political action for marginalized groups.
ISSN:0003-0554
1537-5943
DOI:10.1017/S0003055421000307