Race and the Moral Character of the Modern American Experience

Abstract

The purpose of this study is two-fold. A central divide in the race-in-politics literature concerns whether people openly profess racially prejudiced statements or confine themselves to subtle racism. Our first objective is to examine this debate using new data from the 2008 election. Our second – and central – objective is to bring out the opposing forces in the politics of race. To this point, all the emphasis has been on the force of prejudice. We show that an opposing force of good will also exists, and that many Americans hold blacks in esteem. Using data collected after the 2008 election, we find that esteem dramatically increases the likelihood of supporting Obama for partisans who disagree with their party on ideological terms (e.g., conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans), but not for partisans who agree with their party ideologically (e.g., liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans).

Recommended Citation

Sniderman, Paul M. and Stiglitz, Edward H. (2008) "Race and the Moral Character of the Modern American Experience," The Forum: Vol. 6 : Iss. 4, Article 1.
DOI: 10.2202/1540-8884.1274
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/forum/vol6/iss4/art1