MetaTOC stay on top of your field, easily

Revisiting Stereotypes of Non-White Politicians' Ideological and Partisan Orientations

American Politics Research

Published online on

Abstract

This research revisits when and how voters use race as a cue for politicians’ ideological and partisan orientations. Using an embedded survey experiment that manipulates the race and policy positions of a (fictitious) Member of Congress, I provide a more comprehensive view of the role of ideological and partisan stereotypes in impression formation. Voters perceive non-White politicians as more liberal and more likely to be Democrats than otherwise-identical White politicians. This stereotyping persists even when the politician takes counter-stereotypical positions (e.g., a Black or Hispanic politician with a conservative record), and shapes non-White legislators’ approval ratings in significant ways.