Showing papers in "Social Science Quarterly in 2019"

Polycentric Sovereignty: The Medieval Constitution, Governance Quality, and the Wealth of Nations

Abstract: We extend the theory of market-preserving federalism by ascertaining under what conditions it is likely to prevail. We argue that political-economic systems characterized by polycentric sovereignty — a self-enforcing structure of political property rights that links governance rights with governance revenues, and affords holders of political property rights a check on potentially predatory behavior — will promote market-preserving federalism. We show how the estates system of Medieval Europe was an example of polycentric sovereignty. We also show how the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution represented a degradation of polycentric sovereignty. We conclude by discussing the relationship between governance systems characterized by polycentric sovereignty and social wealth creation, arguing that the structure of political property rights in a governance system is an important characteristic that has hitherto been neglected.

Older, Younger, or More Similar? The Use of Age as a Voting Heuristic*

Abstract: Objective The descriptive representation literature has found that individuals prefer to vote for candidates who share similar characteristics as themselves. However, the relationship between the age of a voter and the age of a candidate is a gap in the literature that remains to be filled. The objective of this study is to examine such relationships. Methods Utilizing the 2010 and 2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, along with independently collected information on candidates’ ages, we use a series of logistic regressions to model the relationship between the age of a voter and the age of a co‐partisan candidate. Results Our analyses suggest that a candidate's age can and does act as a voting heuristic for members of the electorate. However, the strength of these findings is dependent upon the electoral context, individuals’ education levels, and the political party with which an individual affiliates. Conclusion The effect of age has been an overlooked heuristic within the voting behavior literature. Members of the electorate prefer to vote for co‐partisan candidates who are closest to themselves in age.

Polarization of Climate Change Beliefs: The Role of the Millennial Generation Identity*

Abstract: Objective: This article explores how the Millennial Generation identity – the shared values and experiences of young adults (born between 1980 and 1997) – affects political polarization of climate change belief, specifically how it mediates the relationship between party affiliation and educational attainment. Method: To test this, an interaction between Millennial*Republican*education is estimated, using data from an original national survey administered in 2015. Results: Millennials are more likely to believe in the evidence of climate change and its anthropogenic causes than older adults of their same party affiliation. Unlike older adults, the most educated Millennials are not the most likely to adhere to political party stance; rather, it is among the least educated Millennials that party sorting is most evident. Conclusion: The Millennial Generation identity is meaningful for understanding political attitudes. Important distinctions exist between Millennials and older adults in the evaluation of climate change opinion and related policies.

“I Just Don't Think She Has a Presidential Look”: Sexism and Vote Choice in the 2016 Election*

Abstract: Objectives This article examines the effect of both modern and traditional sexism on vote choice in the 2016 presidential election, and posits that they played a major role in explaining Hillary Clinton's defeat to Donald Trump. Methods Data from the 2016 American National Election Study are analyzed using a logistic regression model. Results Both modern and traditional sexism exerted a statistically significant effect on presidential vote choice in 2016. Indeed, its effect rivaled that of racial resentment and was only exceeded by partisanship. Conclusion While a variety of factors may have cost Hillary Clinton the presidency in 2016, sexism needs to be addressed as one of those factors. More broadly, the findings of this article suggest that women candidates continue to face obstacles and are evaluated differently than men, especially when running for the most visible offices in American politics.

What Americans Think About Gun Control: Evidence from the General Social Survey, 1972–2016

Abstract: Objective Gun control is a classic case of policy gridlock and we commonly assume public opinion is at the foundation of this gridlock. However, public opinion analyses of attitudes about gun control often say little about the topic itself and do not fully leverage our long‐running survey data to assess partisan, regional, and temporal trends in attitudes toward gun control. Methods I use over 26 waves of General Social Survey data from 1972 to 2016 to analyze the main public opinion cleavages (partisanship, urban/rural distinctions, and Census regions) of gun control. Results I find that partisanship and ruralness are not robust predictors of attitudes about gun control and that partisan polarization is only partial and recent. Further assumptions about regional variation in attitudes toward gun control need reevaluation. Conclusion Gun control policy gridlock says more about polarization at the elite level than at the mass level. Future research can also do well to assess issue‐linkage concerns on specific gun control policy measures.

Exploring Sensitive Topics in an Authoritarian Context: An Insider Perspective*

Abstract: The article identifies three main challenges in doing ethnography in illiberal settings. First, the imposition of oblique political limitations on the research agenda of local researchers creates a form of methodological nationalism, leading to a paucity of research on some critical topics. Second, the continuous introduction of new restrictive legislation not only results in difficulties of accessing the field, but also demands constant reevaluation of the sensitivity of the questionnaire. Respondents often express anxiety while discussing even quotidian practices because it becomes difficult for them to anticipate whether, when, or how new restrictive legislation will be enforced. Thus, they expect insider researchers to be aware of the legal ramifications of their research. Not only does this nullify the author's ability to adopt a stance of naivety, it also means that researchers bear a greater burden in convincing respondents that the information provided will be handled responsibly. Finally, the ethnographer is constantly faced with difficult decisions regarding both scholarly and ethical reliability and, hence, is required to continuously review research ethics in such a dynamic political context. This article offers suggestions for overcoming these difficulties by means of social networking services and constant critical reflexivity.

Expanding Social Science Through Disaster Studies

Abstract: Objectives: This article provides an overview of how the interdisciplinary field of disaster studies contributes to the social sciences. Methods: The following themes are explored in relation to the articles contained in the special issue: disasters are social and political phenomena that generate policy change, disasters reflect and affect democratic governance, and disasters reveal shared experience and collective identity. Results: Disaster studies bridge the social sciences theoretically and methodologically. Given the scope of disaster impacts—across social, political, economic, ecological, and infrastructure spheres—and the policy response they garner involving public, private, and civic actors, they offer a lens by which to see society and politics in a way that no other critical events can. Conclusion: Disaster studies offer important applications of social science theories and concepts that expand the field, broaden our reach as social scientists, and deepen our understanding of fundamental social processes and behaviors in meaningful ways.

The Effects of Regulations on Private School Choice Program Participation: Experimental Evidence from Florida

Abstract: When deciding whether to participate in a private school choice program, private school leaders weigh additional financial benefits against additional regulatory costs. In theory, raising the costs associated with entering private school choice programs should reduce the likelihood that individual schools participate in those programs. However, very little empirical evidence exists evaluating this idea. While a few studies suggest that more highly regulated programs are correlated with lower levels of school participation, none have established causal relationships between these factors, and none have determined which program regulations are the most costly. Because it is nearly impossible to randomly assign program regulations to individual private schools, we use surveys to randomly assign different regulations to 3,080 private school leaders in Florida and ask them whether they would participate in a new private school choice program during the following school year. Relative to no regulations, our most conservative models find that open-enrollment mandates reduce the likelihood that private schools are certain to participate by about 17 percentage points, or 70 percent. State standardized testing requirements reduce the likelihood that private schools are certain to participate by 11 percentage points, or 44 percent. We find no evidence to suggest that the prohibition of copayment affects program participation overall. These estimates of the impact of regulatory requirements on the expressed willingness of private school principals to participate in a private school choice program are causal because random assignment leads to equivalence in expectation across treatment and control groups on both measurable and unmeasurable factors. We also find evidence to suggest that higher quality schools – as measured by tuition levels and enrollment trends – are more likely to be deterred by program regulations.

Measuring the Disaster Resilience of an Urban Community Using ANP-FCE Method from the Perspective of Capitals

Abstract: Objective Facing increasingly frequent disasters, the resilience concept can make up the limitations of traditional community disaster management. This article evaluated the disaster resilience in an urban community from the perspective of capital, and provides measurements for stakeholders to enhance the community resilience. Methods On the basis of selected capital indicators using systematic literature review, the urban community resilience framework is established based on analytic network process and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation. Finally, the results are analyzed using the importance–performance analysis. Results First, 12 indicators within three dimensions of community capitals are identified. Then, the weights of social, economic, and natural capital are calculated as 33, 41, and 26 percent, respectively. Afterward, taking a waterlogging disaster as an example, an aged community acquired a 46.57 score of resilience. The importance–performance quadrant shows the priority of factors to be improved. Conclusion Relationship, norms, demographic characteristics, voluntary activity, physical facilities, communication system, general property, dedicated assets, resources, energy, ecological environment, and artificial environment are considered as key capitals of community resilience. In addition, a general framework to calculate and evaluate the resilience in a community is established that provides a benchmark for rating the resilience of urban communities.

Making and unmaking cosmopolitans: an experimental test of the mediating role of emotions in international development appeals

Abstract: Objective In this article, we test whether emotions mediate the effect of international development appeals on cosmopolitanism and donation behavior. Methods We design and conduct a lab experiment to test the impact of representations of global poverty on participants’ cosmopolitan sentiments and their likelihood to donate to development charities. We use multiple mediation analysis to test the intervening role of six emotional responses—anger, guilt, solidarity, hope, repulsion, and pity—as causal pathways to our two outcomes of interest: cosmopolitanism and donations. Results Hope is the most consistent and powerful pathway through which appeals affect respondents’ sense of cosmopolitanism and willingness to donate. Negative imagery and text erode people's sense of hope, but drive donations, particularly via guilt. Conclusions Our findings suggest we should move away from a mono‐causal view of emotional responses to disaster and development imagery, and provide a cautionary tale for practitioners: using negative imagery can undermine the public's sense of hope and cosmopolitanism.

Race, Income, and Environmental Inequality in the U.S. States, 1990–2014

Abstract: Objective To examine state‐level environmental inequality trends over time by constructing a new, longitudinal data set and comparing change in environmental and economic inequality. Methods We use Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) RSEI (Risk‐Screening Environmental Indicator) database to create measures of exposure to industrial air toxins and inequality in exposure by race and poverty status. Measures were calculated for each of three periods: 1990–1994, 2000–2004, and 2010–2014. Results Exposure declined but inequality persisted. The geographic patterns displayed by race‐ and poverty‐related environmental inequality differ. But, states with higher levels of race‐based inequality had higher levels of exposure. Poverty‐based environmental and economic inequality exhibited a moderate, positive relation that was spatially patterned. Conclusion While environmental quality improved, we saw little progress in reducing environmental inequality. Though both race‐ and poverty‐based inequality remain, they result from different mechanisms. Future research should examine the relations between deindustrialization and economic, environmental, and political inequality.

Voter ID Laws: A View from the Public*

Abstract: Objective The proliferation of voter identification (ID) laws in the American states has spawned a growing literature examining their causes and effects. We move in a different direction, focusing on public opinion toward these laws. Methods Drawing on a battery of questions in the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we explore why some respondents believe these laws prevent fraud while others believe they disadvantage political participation. Results We find that partisanship shapes respondents’ attitudes about the effects of voter ID laws, but in different ways. Democrats, whose opinions vary according to ideology, education, attention to politics, and racial resentment, are divided. Republicans, however, are markedly more united in their support of voter ID laws. Conclusions These differences, we argue, are consistent with an elite‐to‐mass message transmission reflecting the current context of polarized party politics and the variation in the voter coalitions comprising the Democratic and Republican parties.

Emotions and Deliberation in the Citizens’ Initiative Review

Abstract: Objective Emotions in deliberative democratic practices have been of interest to researchers and practitioners of democracy for years. Yet, scholars have not fully analyzed emotions in this context. We advance this discussion in terms of both data collection and analysis with respect to Citizens' Initiative Reviews (CIRs) in Arizona, Oregon, and Massachusetts in 2016. We respond to four central research questions: (1) What discrete emotions do participants report experiencing during mini‐public deliberation? (2) How do the reported emotions vary across the period of deliberation? (3) How do the expressed emotions affect the deliberation? and (4) What work do expressed emotions do in mini‐publics in terms of helping or hindering deliberation? Methods To ensure a comprehensive analysis of the data we were able to collect, we employ a mixed‐methods design and use both quantitative and qualitative methods. Results and Conclusion Ultimately, we contend that the activities and tasks of the group, as well as the behaviors of participants and relationships among them, are all important factors that shape how people experience emotion, but that the CIR procedures have the greatest influence in mediating emotions to serve the ends of deliberation in these mini‐publics.

When Less Is More in Boosting Survey Response Rates

Abstract: Author(s): Conn, KM; Mo, CH; Sellers, LM | Abstract: Objectives: Previous general population survey research has found that, relative to monetary incentives, altruistic appeals are ineffective in increasing survey response and that offering additional monetary incentives is always desirable. We consider an alternative population—a pro-social population—and ask whether these same conclusions apply. Methods: To evaluate the relative effectiveness of different incentive strategies, we randomly assign individuals to one of five conditions. We consider altruistic incentives (a narrative appeal or a charitable donation) and monetary incentives (three separate lotteries). Results: Among pro-social individuals, “less is more”: altruistic appeals are just as effective, if not more effective, than costly monetary incentives. Moreover, the simplest lottery structure (fewer large-payoff prizes) is the most cost effective of the lotteries. Conclusions: The target population of interest matters when designing survey incentive strategies. Moreover, increasing the incentives budget is not always beneficial.

Environmental Attitudes Across Race and Ethnicity

Abstract: Objectives: This article examines the degree to which environmental concerns are influenced by race and ethnicity, and particularly whether significant differences exist among people of color and whites. Our objective is to clarify this uncertainty since previous studies have been limited by the timeframe and geographic scope of their data. Methods: We analyze 15 years of nationally representative data from Gallup's General Poll Social Survey. Using a multitude of dependent variables that capture a range of environmental issues, we employ ordinal logistic regression models to understand environmental attitudes across race and ethnicity. Results: We find that people of color are more concerned than whites about matters pertaining to environmental justice, and just as concerned about problems related to traditional environmentalism. Conclusions: The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the individual‐level determinants of environmental attitudes, and provide insights into the attitudinal foundations of the modern‐day environmental justice movement.

Melanated Millennials and the Politics of Black Hair

Abstract: Objective This research employs the phenotypic prototypicality framework to makes a connection between African‐American voters' perceptions of African‐American women candidates' appearances and candidate evaluations in contests with limited information. The primary focus is on the candidates' skin tone and hair texture. Methods The data consist of a convenience sample of 672 African‐American students from a Historically Black University in the Deep South. An experimental research design was employed to test whether African‐American candidates who possessed phenotypes that mirrored the prototypical African American were perceived differently when compared to those with more Eurocentric features. Each subject was randomly exposed to a stimulus that consisted of a brief campaign platform and an image of a light or dark woman donning either straight hair, twist outs or dreadlocks. Those subjects in the control group were exposed to an image of a dark male with short hair. Results African‐American students found the dark candidates to be more attractive when compared to their lighter counterparts, regardless of hairstyles. Candidates who possessed the prototypical Afrocentric appearance (i.e., dark skin and/or textured hair) were found to be more supportive of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, progressive policies and were perceived to be more hardworking, when compared to their lighter counterparts. Light‐skinned women, regardless of hairstyles, were perceived to be less supportive of Black Nationalist views. Conclusion The findings here run counter to the conventional wisdom associated with colorism, whereby African Americans have been deemed to possess self‐hatred by possessing a more positive bias toward women with a lighter hue and straight hair. In recent years, due to such events as police shootings of unarmed African‐Americans and the Black Lives Matter movement, Black Millennials have become more aware of the oppression and discrimination faced by many African Americans. This heightened level of consciousness, in tandem with the fact that they were born during an era when natural hairstyles were being popularized, has led them to embrace the aesthetic revolution that includes appreciating their melanated skin and kinky hair.

From Yellow Peril to Model Minority: Perceived Threat by Asian Americans in Employment*

Abstract: Objectives The purpose of this project is to assess (1) presence of anger toward Asian Americans “taking jobs,” and (2) whether stereotypes, feelings of competitive threat, and principles of equality predict increased presence of anger. Methods We used an experimental list survey of 416 participants, which reduces social desirability effects compared to traditional surveys. Results Findings show feelings of group competition and threat were strong predictors of presence of anger toward Asian Americans taking jobs. This anger was not associated with stereotypes as suggested by past research. Conclusions This finding supports Blumer's Group Position Theory, which argues that racial animosity is rooted in concerns that out‐groups are vying for resources claimed by one's own group.

Public Opposition to Sanctuary Cities in Texas: Criminal Threat or Immigration Threat?*

Abstract: Objectives To assess predictors of sanctuary city attitudes in Texas. Specifically, to assess whether a criminal threat or immigration threat hypothesis better explains attitudes toward sanctuary cities. Methods Pooled representative sample surveys of Texas respondents conducted during the first half of 2017, combined with county‐level Census and crime data. Regression analysis and Monte Carlo simulations. Results Compared to the criminal threat hypothesis (as measured by county change in crime rates), the immigration threat hypothesis (as measured by Latino growth and Latino population) better explains Texans' attitudes toward sanctuary cities. Conclusions Despite elite and media narratives linking sanctuary cities to crime, respondents' attitudes toward sanctuary cities are unrelated to physical crime threat and are structured by localized experience with immigration—specifically—Latino growth.

Intersectionality in Action: Gun Ownership and Women's Political Participation

Abstract: Objective We hypothesize that gun ownership among women is an important determinant of political engagement. Methods First, using 2013 Pew Research Center data, we examine different types of political participation concerning gun policy. Next, we examine data from a survey experiment embedded in a unique June 2017 national survey of nearly 900 gun owners. Finally, we analyze 2016 American National Election Studies data of behavioral and cognitive forms of political participation. Results Gun‐owning women exhibit levels of political participation about gun policy and a greater willingness to engage in political discussions about gun control than nonowning women. We also find greater levels of political engagement among gun‐owning women on measures of participation not related to gun policy. Conclusion We discuss the implications of our findings for research on political participation as well as for gun policy.

Looking for meaning in all the wrong places: country music and the politics of identity

Abstract: Objective: This study argues that country music can be viewed in terms of identity politics that seeks to define an American identity. Methods: A textual analysis of country music songs is used to illustrate the various components of this American identity associated with the U.S. South and West. Results: Six key dimensions of the country music American identity are identified‐–the goodness of the common man, family values, patriotism, race, religion, and nostalgia. Dissenting views on several themes are also illustrated. Conclusion: U.S. country music can be viewed as the symbolic politics version of redistributive politics that defines values to be accepted and cherished as well as values to be denigrated and shunned.

The Intersectionality of Disasters’ Effects on Trust in Public Officials

Abstract: Objective Groups defined by race and ideology are well‐known predictors of interpersonal and political trust, but gender‐based effects are undecided. I investigate whether disaster experience conditions a difference in political trust between women and men. Methods Examining the hurricane data set of U.S. public opinion, I analyze intersectionality's influence on disaster‐based political trust with a three‐way interaction between race, class, and gender. Results Among disaster survivors, black women trust less than all other race–gender groups, and white men trust the most. The difference between black and white women survivors’ political trust is attenuated by education. Education exacerbates race‐based political trust among observers. Among observers, there is not a gender‐based distinction. Conclusion Disasters create new identities based on shared experience, and offer a moment in time that illustrates how trust varies along gender–race–class–disaster dimensions. Knowing how trust differs according to intersectionality allows managers to manage critical events better.

Assessment of Citizens’ Populist Orientations: Development and Validation of the POPulist ORientation (POPOR) Scale

Abstract: Objectives We developed and validated the POPulist ORientation (POPOR) Scale (composed of six five‐category items), operationalizing populist orientation as a unidimensional construct composed of six facets: (1) anti‐economic, financial, and intellectual establishment attitude; (2) anti‐political establishment; (3) conception of the people as a homogeneous and virtuous entity; (4) consideration of the people as legitimated to take part directly in political decision‐making processes; (5) need for a strong leader; and (6) loss of relevance of the traditional ideologies. To prevent response bias, we gave the POPOR Scale a forced‐choice format and a balanced structure. Method We surveyed a quota sample of 1,348 Italians extracted from the general population and analyzed the structure of the scale and its convergent validity via confirmatory factor analysis. Results The POPOR Scale showed a unidimensional structure and a good convergent validity. Supplemental analyses showed its structural invariance across gender, age, education, and area of residence.

The Applied Legitimacy Index: A New Approach to Measuring Judicial Legitimacy

Abstract: Objectives This article advances criticisms of the traditional legitimacy index as it relates to determining whether ideological distance predicts an individual's willing to sanction the Court. As a solution to these criticisms, this article develops a new measure of judicial legitimacy, the applied legitimacy index. Methods Using data from the American Panel Survey and item response theory models, this article estimates the applied legitimacy index. Ordinary least squares regression models then compare the effect ideological distance has on both the traditional legitimacy index and the newly developed applied legitimacy index. Results The results indicate that those who are ideologically distant from the Court have diminished views of the Court's applied legitimacy. The substantive effect of ideological distance is much larger for applied legitimacy than when compared with traditional legitimacy. Conclusions This article suggests that the traditional legitimacy index may overestimate loyalty to the Court and underestimate the extent to which individuals are willing to sanction an ideologically distant Court. Based on this, the article advocates that scholars adopt the applied legitimacy index in future studies.

Racial Minorities’ Trust in Government and Government Decisionmakers

Abstract: Objective Compare the impact of being a racial minority for influencing political trust as measured by the standard, NES‐developed measures with its impact on assessments of the capacity of decisionmakers to make racially unbiased spending and hiring decisions. Additionally, to examine the political trust of American Indians, an understudied racial minority. Methods Bivariate and multivariate analysis of 2004 and 2008 National Annenberg Election Study survey data. Results Self‐designation as a racial minority exercises small, inconsistent effects on the standard measures of political trust and external efficacy. When citizens are asked whether Caucasian government officials make decisions on spending and hiring to advantage whites to the disadvantage of blacks and Hispanics, racial minorities state that they expect racial bias. American Indians reveal levels of political trust similar to those held by other racial minorities. Conclusion An increasingly multiracial society will experience considerable tensions as minorities distrust government decisionmakers of a different race. These tensions will continue to be exploited by ambitious political elites.