Public Support for Political Compromise on a Volatile Racial Issue: Insight from the Survey Experiment

• Published in: Political psychology 2006-06, Vol.27 (3), p.423-439
• Main Author: Glaser, James M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitude surveys; Attitudes; Blacks; Compromises; Confederate flag; Conflict theory; Economic competition; Experiments; Flags; Governors; group conflict theory; Intercultural dialogue; Monuments; Negotiation; Opinion; Opinion polls; Political attitudes; Political boycotts; Political conflict; Political processes; Political psychology; Political science; public attitudes toward political process; Public opinion; Public Support; Race; racial politics; Racism; Social psychology; Social Response; South Carolina; survey experimentation; Symbolism; U.S.A; Whites
• ISSN: 0162-895X; 1467-9221
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2006.00508.x

In 2000, South Carolina officials, after years of political wrangling over the flying of the Confederate flag over the state capitol, finally removed it, placing it at a Confederate monument on the statehouse grounds. Here, via iterative survey experimentation, I look at the public response to the political compromise required to bring down the flag. I show that the public did respond positively to the multifaceted compromise and that black flag opponents were much more likely than white flag proponents to support the compromise. I also show that more white flag proponents can be swayed to support the compromise if they understand that it is supported by a majority of South Carolinians, thus breaking their misperception of the issue. Flag proponents, however, do not respond more positively to compromise simply because it is the by-product of white and black negotiations. The political process necessarily evokes competitive intergroup attitudes. Can we think about process in a way that redirects these attitudes and makes political compromise more acceptable?