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Descriptive Representation, Political Efficacy, and A frican A mericans in the 2008 Presidential Election
Author(s) -
Merolla Jennifer L.,
Sellers Abbylin H.,
Fowler Derek J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
political psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.419
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-9221
pISSN - 0162-895X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2012.00934.x
Subject(s) - politics , descriptive research , representation (politics) , presidential election , argument (complex analysis) , voting , social psychology , biology and political orientation , descriptive statistics , psychology , presidential system , political efficacy , political science , voting behavior , sociology , medicine , social science , law , statistics , mathematics
Political efficacy is an important psychological orientation that has been used extensively by scholars to help explain voting and other forms of participation. However, very few scholars have sought to treat political efficacy as a dependent variable. In this research note, we look at the linkage between descriptive representation and political efficacy. Drawing from existing literature, we argue that an increase in descriptive representation positively affects levels of political efficacy. We examine support for this argument by looking at whether levels of efficacy increased among A frican A mericans after the election of B arack O bama using data from the 2008–2009 A merican National Election Studies ( ANES ) panel study. We find that the effects of descriptive representation on efficacy varied depending on one's partisanship. B lack R epublicans, Independents, and weak D emocrats experienced an increase in efficacy. However, B lack D emocrats and W hite D emocrats who strongly identify with the party experienced a similar boost in efficacy, which suggests that partisanship can override the effects of having a descriptive representative.