A new study in the American Journal of Political Science finds that general racial attitudes likely affect how Americans feel about healthcare. Researchers have long since studied how racial attitudes affect responses to specific policies like desegregation and affirmative action. Unsurprisingly, they find racial attitudes have an impact. But this new study asks whether racial attitudes have a bearing on issues unrelated to race. The study finds that they do.
The study also suggests that sharing some core aspect of identity, such as race or religion, with a political leader makes one more likely to support that leader’s policies. For instance, African Americans are more supportive of identical health care reforms when they are proposed by Obama than say Clinton.
The most interesting finding in the study, however, is that white liberals are also more supportive of hypothetical health care reforms when proposed by Obama than Clinton. But whites with conservative attitudes become less supportive of reform when proposed by Obama. In short, Obama’s race would seem to be a plus factor among white liberals and a minus factor among white conservatives.
How does one square this finding with the general notion that sharing racial or religious identity with a political leader positively impacts one’s support for their policies. Does this mean that racial attitudes trump racial identity? If so, does racial identity matter as much as many assume, or do racial identity and racial attitudes overlap so much that we mistake the important factor?
I think the issue is far more complex than a comparison of policies by Obama versus Clinton could hope to show. In the past, race may have always been the trump card. Now, it would seem race is incredibly powerful, but also incredibly circumstantial. For instance, in a recent blog, I argued that there might be something special about being president that changes the racial calculus for Obama. I queried whether many were over-protective of their first African-American president early in his term and whether this protectiveness might have faded over time as Obama solidified his stature as “the president.” Of course, race is relevant here, but part only one part of a wider intersecting set of paradigms and circumstances.
Comments