1. RICARDO RAMIREZ ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME Transforming Politics, Transforming America: Emerging Representatives

2. Diverse Representation What? Who? How? Why?

3. Single-member-district system (SMD) SMD: constituency in an electoral district that elects one officeholder for representation Potential problems Cracking – split minority voters into several districts in order to limit their influence Packing – condense as many voters of one type into single districts to minimize number of seats won by group

4. Single-member-district system (SMD)

5. At-large-plurality system (ALP) Vote dilution in at-large-plurality systems is harder to identify  Compared to SMD vote dilution (especially “cracking”) How dilution works relies on a variety of individual behaviors depends on the relative population shares of groups degree of racially polarized bloc voting minority candidates splitting the vote

6. At-large-plurality system (ALP) Sample Election Results with Bloc Voting CANDIDATE White Votes Asian Votes Total Votes Dr. Scott 13,0003,60016,600 Mr. English 12,4501,20013,650 Ms. Church 12,05075012,800 Mrs. Brewer 4,1904504,640 Mr. Wong 1256,0006,125 Ms. Yuen 1856,0006,185

7. At-large-plurality system (ALP) Whites African AmericansLatinos Asian Americans Citizen (among adults) 98946368 Registered (among citizen) 74705955 Turnout (among registered) 90938486 Political contributor 1385 Contact government official 211199 Community work 302721

8. Municipalities with Mixed system: Both SMD and ALP Most representatives elected under SMD Less representatives under ALP What kind of system do they have in your city? How well does it work? Examples of real world problems?

9. Political Participation The level of political participation among minority groups (African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans) is affected by: Group Consciousness- The extent to which members of each group identify with each other facilitates mobilization. Partisanship-The level of loyalty a group has to a political party affects the rate of participation, candidate selection, and policy preferences.

10. Political Participation Socioeconomic Status- Individuals with higher levels of income, education, and occupational prestige participate in politics at higher rates than those with lower levels. Citizenship- The possession of rights, powers, and duties associated with formal membership in the political community is an important resource for political influence. Which factor do you identify as the most important in mobilizing voters? How can you apply the effects of these factors on the participation rates of specific minority groups?

11. Descriptive Representation

12. Descriptive Representation by Race, 2006 Level of OfficeAsian-AmericanBlackLatinoTotal U.S. Senate2136 U.S. House of Representatives6402268 Governor & Lt. Governor1315 State Legislature84534229847 County Officials187572691,044 Municipal Officials1173,1621,5894,868 School Board Officials1231,5271,6233,273 Total3516,0243,73610,111

13. Distribution of Descriptive Representatives by Race, 2006

14. Race and Representation 2008 Presidential Election  Obama  Congress  41 Black  24 Latino  7 Asian Americans  State Legislatures  628 Black  242 Latino  85 Asian Americans

15. Descriptive Representation Questions Why are African American and Latino descriptive representatives more numerous at municipal level rather than state and national legislative levels? Asian Americans are more likely than other minority groups to be elected in districts in which other ethno racial groups constitute the majority. Why might this the case?

16. Descriptive Representation Politically Consequential?  Effect on political behavior  Black, White and Latino turnout  Attitudes  Black political attitudes  Latino political attitudes

17. Trust in Government “The election of President Obama has boosted African Americans' trust in government.” NPR (April 29, 2010) What is the effect of descriptive representation for Latinos and Asian Americans? Do the findings for Blacks in 1996 hold true in 2008? Variations by level of representation? Faces in the Mirror  Not just one face in the mirror  Not just one mirror in a house

18. Trust in Government Trust in Government, a common measure in this research area. Also control for several important factors:  Substantive Representation- “Party Congruence”  Party ID  National Origin for Latinos/Asians  Political Knowledge  Nativity  Income, Education, Age, Gender, “Better Off ”

19. Trust in Government: US House Representation Black LatinoAsian Descriptive Rep ns+ns Partisan Congruence ns+ns Democrat nsns– Income ns–ns Education nsns– Gender nsns– Age ns++ Perceived Discrim – –– Pol. Knowledge nsnsns Better Off Financially + +ns Naturalized ns++ N8221264655

20. Trust in Government: State House Representation Black LatinoAsian Descriptive Rep ns+ns Partisan Congruence nsnsns Democrat nsns– Income nsnsns Education nsns– Gender nsns– Age ns++ Perceived Discrim – –– Pol. Knowledge nsns+ Better Off Financially + +ns Naturalized nsns+ N8201193654

21. Trust in Government : State Senate Representation Black LatinoAsian Descriptive Rep ns+ns Partisan Congruence ns+ns Democrat nsns– Income ns–ns Education nsns– Gender nsns– Age ns+ns Perceived Discrim – –– Pol. Knowledge nsnsns Better Off Financially + +ns Naturalized ns++ N8221264655

22. Does Descriptive Representation Matter? The effects of descriptive representation on trust are most consistent among Latinos. There are differences across different levels of representation.

23. Beyond “feelin’ good”: Evolution of Mobilization and its Consequences Evolution of Mobilization  Less labor-intensive  Downstream effects of shift in quality contacts  Endogenous relationship Voting and Mobilization If co-ethnic representation leads to greater participation, does co-ethnic representation lead to greater mobilization?

24. Turnout Rates of Adult Citizen Population By Race 2000200420082012 White61.867.266.164.1 Black56.860.064.766.2 Latino45.147.249.948.0 Asian43.444.247.647.3

25. Race & Turnout Differences: Beyond SocioEconomic Status (SES) Social and Political Context  Group Size  Majority-Minority Districts & Turnout  Empowerment  Descriptive Representation & Turnout  Collective Representation & Turnout  Group Size and Empowerment  Electoral Competition Psychological Empowering Effect of Descriptive Representation

26. Why some people DON’T Participate Because the can’t  SES and Other resources Because they don’t want to  Absence of psychological engagement  Political Interest  Political Efficacy  Political Trust Because nobody asked

27. Mobilization: Strategic or Biased? Mobilization is Strategic “Political mobilization is almost always partisan, and campaigns actively target certain segments of the electorate, focusing their efforts on getting those people to the polls….As the 2008 election vividly illustrates, candidates care not at all about high turnout, they care about differential turnout-high turnout among their partisans.” (Goldstein and Holleque 2010, 586)

28. Mobilization: Strategic or Biased? What accounts for the puzzle of disparate rates of mobilization?  because of who they are  Race, Gender, Age, SES, Homeowner, Nativity, Residential Stability  because of where they live  Race Context  because of strategic/biased considerations.  Active voters, Battleground State, Competitive districts, Partisan Districts,  Co-ethnic representation congruence  Ignoring the willing recruits

29. Rate of Co-ethnic representation

30. Mobilization by Race and Co-Ethnic representation

31. Mobilization patterns by Race LatinoAsianBlackWhite Female Age Education + + + + Homeowner + US Born + Registered DEM Registered GOP – Primary Voter ’08 Battleground State + + + N 1,518 789914 1,093

32. Mobilization patterns by Race LatinoAsianBlackWhite Female – Age Education + + Homeowner US Born + Resid. Stability Latino Neighborhood Asian Neighborhood – Black Neighborhood – Mixed Neighborhood Registered DEM Registered GOP – Primary Voter ’08 Battleground State + + Total Co-Ethnic Total DEM + Total Competition + Self-Recruit + + N 1,482 776890 1,076

33. Biased Mobilization? Self-reported contact by race and subscription for campaign info

34. Biased Mobilization?

35. BREAK Breakout session