Changing White Attitudes toward Black Political Leadership

Despite the hopes of the civil rights movement, researchers have found that the election of African Americans to office has not greatly improved the well-being of the black community. By shifting the focus to the white community, this book shows that black representation can have a profound impact. Utilizing national public opinion surveys, data on voting patterns in large American cities, and in-depth studies of Los Angeles and Chicago, Zoltan Hajnal demonstrates that under most black mayors there is real, positive change in the white vote and in the racial attitudes of white residents. This change occurs because black incumbency provides concrete information that disproves the fears and expectations of many white residents. These findings not only highlight the importance of black representation; they also demonstrate the critical role that information can play in racial politics to the point where black representation can profoundly alter white views and white votes.

Table of Contents:
1. Black leadership: the possibilities; 2. The transformation of the white vote; 3. The transformation of white attitudes; 4. Learning across different cities; 5. Black Mayoral leadership in Los Angeles; 6. Black Mayoral leadership in Chicago; 7. Other cases where information could matter.

About the Author :
Zoltan L. Hajnal is an assistant professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago. He has published articles in numerous journals, including The American Political Science Review, The Journal of Politics, Urban Affairs Review, and Social Science Quarterly. He received the American Political Science Association's award for Best Paper on Urban Politics. His research has been funded by the Russell Sage Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Review :
"Changing White Attitudes toward Black Political Leadership represents an important advance in the study of voting behavior. Hajnal goes beyond simply stating that race matters for white voters as he leads readers into an engaging and rigorous process of discovering when and how it matters. The conclusion that white voters can change their minds about black candidates is sure to be controversial, but it is strongly supported by a research approach that is multi-faceted, inter-disciplinary, and highly innovative. Changing White Attitudes is a fascinating read. It sets a new standard for studying the electoral implications of race. " Arthur Lupia, Hal R. Varian Collegiate Professor of Political Science, Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research, Principal Investigator, The American National Election Studies, Principal Investigator, TESS, University of Michigan "Like all good works, this book raises new questions, but I interpret that as a strenght of the work. The book makes important strides in our understanding of racial polarization in voting and it should open new lines of research--quantitative, qualitative, and experimental--on the relationship among race relations, public opinion, and political behavior." - Andra Gillespie, Emory University "...Readers will find the assembled data both impressive and extensive" Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh, Political Science Quarterly