Natasha Altema McNeely - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Natasha Altema McNeely

Research paper thumbnail of Married with children: do intermarriage and children impact political orientations?

Politics, Groups, and Identities

Research paper thumbnail of How the Link Between Social Capital and Migratory Duration Helps Us Understand Immigrant-Native Inequality*

Social Science Quarterly, 2018

Objective. In the aggregate, people are socioeconomic indicators who are better off in high socia... more Objective. In the aggregate, people are socioeconomic indicators who are better off in high social capital environments. But the gap between natives and immigrants is large in these same areas. In this article, we offer an alternative argument for the effect of social capital on inequality between immigrants and natives. Methods. We use a duration modeling analysis of data on migratory stays supplied by the Mexican Migration Project to link social capital to immigration trends. Results. We suggest that social capital may be reducing equality for benign reasons and show that social capital is a resource that mostly benefits unauthorized immigrants in punitive policy environments. Unauthorized immigrants are encouraged to settle in high social capital states to gain access to these resources. This group tends to be less assimilated and possesses few socioeconomic resources. Conclusion. High social capital states are unequal not because social capital produces inequality but because it is valued by immigrants who are faring poorly. The most vulnerable immigrants benefit the most from living in places where social networks and feelings of generalized trust are strong.

Research paper thumbnail of Bringing Race Back In: Black Politicians, Deracialization and Voting Behavior in the Age of Obama

New Political Science, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Death in DC

National Review of Black Politics

The local political implication of Black maternal mortality raises questions about the extent to ... more The local political implication of Black maternal mortality raises questions about the extent to which city leaders, especially Black females, can influence policies to improve outcomes for Black expectant mothers. The case of Mayor Muriel Bowser, the second Black female mayor of Washington, DC, is examined to demonstrate the connection between intersectional identities and substantive representation through an examination of how she has attempted to reduce Black maternal mortality in the district. Data including press releases from her office, newsletters, accountability reports, and budget proposals are assessed. Other data including news reports from nonprofit organizations as well as local media are examined to provide a comprehensive understanding of how stakeholders in the community have reacted to actions taken by the Bowser administration. Currently serving her second term as mayor, Bowser has pursued actions that attempted to reduce this racial health disparity. Solutions p...

Research paper thumbnail of Deportation threat and political engagement among latinos in the Rio Grande Valley

Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Supplemental_Material_Kim_et_al_002 – Supplemental material for A Comparative Analysis of the Attitudes toward the U.S.-Mexico Border Policy: Evaluating Perspectives on Border Security and Building a Wall in the Rio Grande Valley, National Hispanic and General U.S. Populations

Supplemental material, Supplemental_Material_Kim_et_al_002 for A Comparative Analysis of the Atti... more Supplemental material, Supplemental_Material_Kim_et_al_002 for A Comparative Analysis of the Attitudes toward the U.S.-Mexico Border Policy: Evaluating Perspectives on Border Security and Building a Wall in the Rio Grande Valley, National Hispanic and General U.S. Populations by Dongkyu Kim, Mi-son Kim and Natasha Altema McNeely in Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Research paper thumbnail of How emotions about candidates condition the influence of racial resentment on policy positions

The potential environmental impacts of mining, increasing environmental legislation and public aw... more The potential environmental impacts of mining, increasing environmental legislation and public awareness have received increased attention worldwide in the last two decades. The focus of concern by the industry, environmental regulatory agencies and members of the public is the systematic rehabilitation of ex-mine sites to improve the quality at site for potential future commercial land use. The minerals extracted from these mine/quarry sites are essential in the construction, semiconductor, high-technology, ceramic and other manufacturing sectors for further industrial development. However, efficient engineering design and systematic economic evaluation of mine sites for site rehabilitation are required in maintaining the expected standards of environmental compliance. With escalating production costs and the keen competitiveness of the mining industry worldwide , the necessity to increase the efficiency in site rehabilitation is getting more prominence. A coordinated environmental protection and rehabilitation programme is essential if the environmental awareness of the community and the demands of the respective planning authorities are to be accommodated. There is thus a need to increase the base of knowledge for efficient planning in the systematic and progressive rehabilitation of current and future ex-mine sites. An efficient modeling tool is required for the systematic planning and design of potential economic land development of ex-mine sites. The applicability of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is a useful tool to acquire spatial information for the systematic design and planning of potential development of ex-mine sites. This research was conducted to detect the trends in the suitability of land cover changes via land cover change detection of ex-mine sites and validated with reality. The findings are useful to assist in the development of a tool for efficient modeling and design of potential economic development of ex-mine sites. The aim of this research is to quantify, model and map the economic potential of the ex-mine sites for built up areas such as housing and other urban infrastructures. Land cover classes were interpreted into maps and the accuracy of the maps were validated to reference data and actual ground scenarios. The study for validation of the proposed modeling tool was carried out using the large prominent mining area in Malaysia namely the Kinta District. Results from the validation study carried out indicate that the correlation of the results obtained from this Integrated Remote Sensing and GIS tool for modeling to field data is in the range of 0.87-0.92 which is acceptable and close to reality.

Research paper thumbnail of Data on race, inequality, and social capital in the U.S. counties

Data in Brief, 2021

This article presents data on social capital at the United States’ county-level. Following Rupasi... more This article presents data on social capital at the United States’ county-level. Following Rupasingha et al. (2006), the social capital index captures the common factor among density measures of 10 different types of associations, voter turnout rates, U.S. decennial census participation rates, and the number of non-profit organizations. Based on Knack (2003), we create associational densities measures as a proxy for both bridging and bonding social capital. Including data on income inequality, racial diversity, minority group size, average household income, educational attainment, the ratio of a family household, the size of migration population, and female labor market participation rates, the data covers 3,104 U.S. counties for both 2009 and 2014. This paper includes descriptive statistics and figures. This data article is associated with the article “Race, Inequality, and Social Capital in the U.S. Counties.”

Research paper thumbnail of Emotions Condition the Influence of Racial Resentment on Policy Positions

Research paper thumbnail of Partnering Up: Coalitions Between African American Female and Latina Legislators

Research paper thumbnail of Partnering Up: Coalitions Among Black Female & Latina State Legislators

Research paper thumbnail of Race, inequality, and social capital in the U.S. counties

The Social Science Journal, 2020

This study examines how the interplay between racial diversity and economic inequality affects va... more This study examines how the interplay between racial diversity and economic inequality affects variations of social capital in the U.S. counties. In general, racial and economic heterogeneity is assumed to provide a negative environment for the growth of social capital. Building on this, we argue the effect of economic inequality is weaker than that of racial diversity because increased economic heterogeneity is felt less visibly and acutely than racial heterogeneity. Moreover, economic inequality can positively condition the adverse impact of racial diversity on social capital when the two interact. Based on the crosscutting cleavages theory, income inequality in a racially fragmented community works as an additional cleavage that crosscuts the different racial groups, mitigating the negative impact of racial diversity on social capital. The data analysis of 3,140 U.S. counties in 2009-2014 provides strong evidence for our arguments. Our findings offer important implications in understanding inequality, race and American democracy.

Research paper thumbnail of A Comparative Analysis of the Attitudes toward the U.S.-Mexico Border Policy: Evaluating Perspectives on Border Security and Building a Wall in the Rio Grande Valley, National Hispanic and General U.S. Populations

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 2020

Recently, there has been a surge of national attention toward the U.S.-Mexican border in South Te... more Recently, there has been a surge of national attention toward the U.S.-Mexican border in South Texas, known as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). Despite the attention and potential impact, which the wall would directly have on the RGV community, there has been no systemic attention paid to the opinions of the RGV residents regarding the proposed wall and other related immigration policies. This article, therefore, aims to fill this gap by comparing immigration policy attitudes in the borderland communities to both the national Hispanic and the general national populations. By utilizing original data from an RGV public opinion survey we conducted in 2018, our analysis shows that RGV residents hold more lenient immigration attitudes than do both the national Hispanic and the general populations. We utilize logistic regression analysis to further our understanding of the correlates of these attitudes across different samples. Our findings provide important policy and political implications.

Research paper thumbnail of Take Two on Race and Politics

for adopting me into their family and looking out for me throughout this journey. I would like to... more for adopting me into their family and looking out for me throughout this journey. I would like to express my gratitude and love for my family. My father (Ernst Altema) and mother (Ginette B. Altema) inspire me to achieve my dreams and to believe in my ability to succeed. I am forever grateful for their unending support and words of encouragement. I would also like to thank my father-in-law (Reverend Bruce McNeely) and mother-in-law (Carol McNeely), my brothers and sisters-in-law, and nephews for embracing me into their wonderful family. I would like to thank my husband (Drew) for his love, encouragement, and support. We made an awesome team as both of us sought to complete our graduate educations.

Research paper thumbnail of How the Link Between Social Capital and Migratory Duration Helps Us Understand Immigrant-Native Inequality*

Social Science Quarterly, 2018

Objective. In the aggregate, people are socioeconomic indicators who are better off in high socia... more Objective. In the aggregate, people are socioeconomic indicators who are better off in high social capital environments. But the gap between natives and immigrants is large in these same areas. In this article, we offer an alternative argument for the effect of social capital on inequality between immigrants and natives. Methods. We use a duration modeling analysis of data on migratory stays supplied by the Mexican Migration Project to link social capital to immigration trends. Results. We suggest that social capital may be reducing equality for benign reasons and show that social capital is a resource that mostly benefits unauthorized immigrants in punitive policy environments. Unauthorized immigrants are encouraged to settle in high social capital states to gain access to these resources. This group tends to be less assimilated and possesses few socioeconomic resources. Conclusion. High social capital states are unequal not because social capital produces inequality but because it is valued by immigrants who are faring poorly. The most vulnerable immigrants benefit the most from living in places where social networks and feelings of generalized trust are strong.

Research paper thumbnail of Bringing Race Back In: Black Politicians, Deracialization and Voting Behavior in the Age of Obama

New Political Science, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Symbolic Racism and Emotional Responses to the 2012 Presidential Candidates

Political Research Quarterly, 2014

Racial attitudes toward African American candidates are partially explained by symbolic racism, w... more Racial attitudes toward African American candidates are partially explained by symbolic racism, which has replaced overt racism in responses to these candidates. However, as typically operationalized, symbolic racism as applied to candidate assessments fails to account for the emotions generated by a political campaign. Symbolic racism’s effects are moderated when emotional responses to Barack Obama are included in a candidate evaluation model, while emotions remain an important predictor. While symbolic racism and negative emotions lower evaluations, the presence of the positive emotions generated by the 2012 campaign counteracted both. Inclusion of both symbolic racism and emotion is necessary to understand perceptions of Obama as a black presidential candidate.

Research paper thumbnail of Symbolic Racism and Emotional Responses to the 2012 Presidential Candidates

Political Research Quarterly, 2014

Racial attitudes toward African American candidates are partially explained by symbolic racism, w... more Racial attitudes toward African American candidates are partially explained by symbolic racism, which has replaced overt racism in responses to these candidates. However, as typically operationalized, symbolic racism as applied to candidate assessments fails to account for the emotions generated by a political campaign. Symbolic racism’s effects are moderated when emotional responses to Barack Obama are included in a candidate evaluation model, while emotions remain an important predictor. While symbolic racism and negative emotions lower evaluations, the presence of the positive emotions generated by the 2012 campaign counteracted both. Inclusion of both symbolic racism and emotion is necessary to understand perceptions of Obama as a black presidential candidate.

Research paper thumbnail of How support for Latino candidates encourages municipal reforms: evidence from the Local Elections in America Project

Politics, Groups, and Identities, 2015

Scholarship rightfully emphasizes how electoral institutions affect minority representation and p... more Scholarship rightfully emphasizes how electoral institutions affect minority representation and policy outcomes. But how do racial and ethnic environments shape institutions? We address this question by examining how support for Latino candidates affects attempts to modify rules regarding governance and elections. To do so, we rely on new data from the Local Elections in America Project and the International City/County Management Association. We find that the percentage of votes that go to Latino candidates, as well as changes over time in Latino vote share, predicts the probability that a reform effort will take place. Both relationships are nonlinear and suggest a high degree of strategic behavior on the part of elite actors within cities.

Research paper thumbnail of Race, Inequality, and Social Capital in the U.S. Counties

The Social Science Journal, 2020

This study examines how the interplay between racial diversity and economic inequality affects va... more This study examines how the interplay between racial diversity and economic inequality affects variations of social capital in the U.S. counties. In general, racial and economic heterogeneity is assumed to provide a negative environment for the growth of social capital. Building on this, we argue the effect of economic inequality is weaker than that of racial diversity because increased economic heterogeneity is felt less visibly and acutely than racial heterogeneity. Moreover, economic inequality can positively condition the adverse impact of racial diversity on social capital when the two interact. Based on the crosscutting cleavages theory, income inequality in a racially fragmented community works as an additional cleavage that crosscuts the different racial groups, mitigating the negative impact of racial diversity on social capital. The data analysis of 3,140 U.S. counties in 2009-2014 provides strong evidence for our arguments. Our findings offer important implications in understanding inequality, race and American democracy.

Research paper thumbnail of Married with children: do intermarriage and children impact political orientations?

Politics, Groups, and Identities

Research paper thumbnail of How the Link Between Social Capital and Migratory Duration Helps Us Understand Immigrant-Native Inequality*

Social Science Quarterly, 2018

Objective. In the aggregate, people are socioeconomic indicators who are better off in high socia... more Objective. In the aggregate, people are socioeconomic indicators who are better off in high social capital environments. But the gap between natives and immigrants is large in these same areas. In this article, we offer an alternative argument for the effect of social capital on inequality between immigrants and natives. Methods. We use a duration modeling analysis of data on migratory stays supplied by the Mexican Migration Project to link social capital to immigration trends. Results. We suggest that social capital may be reducing equality for benign reasons and show that social capital is a resource that mostly benefits unauthorized immigrants in punitive policy environments. Unauthorized immigrants are encouraged to settle in high social capital states to gain access to these resources. This group tends to be less assimilated and possesses few socioeconomic resources. Conclusion. High social capital states are unequal not because social capital produces inequality but because it is valued by immigrants who are faring poorly. The most vulnerable immigrants benefit the most from living in places where social networks and feelings of generalized trust are strong.

Research paper thumbnail of Bringing Race Back In: Black Politicians, Deracialization and Voting Behavior in the Age of Obama

New Political Science, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Death in DC

National Review of Black Politics

The local political implication of Black maternal mortality raises questions about the extent to ... more The local political implication of Black maternal mortality raises questions about the extent to which city leaders, especially Black females, can influence policies to improve outcomes for Black expectant mothers. The case of Mayor Muriel Bowser, the second Black female mayor of Washington, DC, is examined to demonstrate the connection between intersectional identities and substantive representation through an examination of how she has attempted to reduce Black maternal mortality in the district. Data including press releases from her office, newsletters, accountability reports, and budget proposals are assessed. Other data including news reports from nonprofit organizations as well as local media are examined to provide a comprehensive understanding of how stakeholders in the community have reacted to actions taken by the Bowser administration. Currently serving her second term as mayor, Bowser has pursued actions that attempted to reduce this racial health disparity. Solutions p...

Research paper thumbnail of Deportation threat and political engagement among latinos in the Rio Grande Valley

Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Supplemental_Material_Kim_et_al_002 – Supplemental material for A Comparative Analysis of the Attitudes toward the U.S.-Mexico Border Policy: Evaluating Perspectives on Border Security and Building a Wall in the Rio Grande Valley, National Hispanic and General U.S. Populations

Supplemental material, Supplemental_Material_Kim_et_al_002 for A Comparative Analysis of the Atti... more Supplemental material, Supplemental_Material_Kim_et_al_002 for A Comparative Analysis of the Attitudes toward the U.S.-Mexico Border Policy: Evaluating Perspectives on Border Security and Building a Wall in the Rio Grande Valley, National Hispanic and General U.S. Populations by Dongkyu Kim, Mi-son Kim and Natasha Altema McNeely in Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Research paper thumbnail of How emotions about candidates condition the influence of racial resentment on policy positions

The potential environmental impacts of mining, increasing environmental legislation and public aw... more The potential environmental impacts of mining, increasing environmental legislation and public awareness have received increased attention worldwide in the last two decades. The focus of concern by the industry, environmental regulatory agencies and members of the public is the systematic rehabilitation of ex-mine sites to improve the quality at site for potential future commercial land use. The minerals extracted from these mine/quarry sites are essential in the construction, semiconductor, high-technology, ceramic and other manufacturing sectors for further industrial development. However, efficient engineering design and systematic economic evaluation of mine sites for site rehabilitation are required in maintaining the expected standards of environmental compliance. With escalating production costs and the keen competitiveness of the mining industry worldwide , the necessity to increase the efficiency in site rehabilitation is getting more prominence. A coordinated environmental protection and rehabilitation programme is essential if the environmental awareness of the community and the demands of the respective planning authorities are to be accommodated. There is thus a need to increase the base of knowledge for efficient planning in the systematic and progressive rehabilitation of current and future ex-mine sites. An efficient modeling tool is required for the systematic planning and design of potential economic land development of ex-mine sites. The applicability of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is a useful tool to acquire spatial information for the systematic design and planning of potential development of ex-mine sites. This research was conducted to detect the trends in the suitability of land cover changes via land cover change detection of ex-mine sites and validated with reality. The findings are useful to assist in the development of a tool for efficient modeling and design of potential economic development of ex-mine sites. The aim of this research is to quantify, model and map the economic potential of the ex-mine sites for built up areas such as housing and other urban infrastructures. Land cover classes were interpreted into maps and the accuracy of the maps were validated to reference data and actual ground scenarios. The study for validation of the proposed modeling tool was carried out using the large prominent mining area in Malaysia namely the Kinta District. Results from the validation study carried out indicate that the correlation of the results obtained from this Integrated Remote Sensing and GIS tool for modeling to field data is in the range of 0.87-0.92 which is acceptable and close to reality.

Research paper thumbnail of Data on race, inequality, and social capital in the U.S. counties

Data in Brief, 2021

This article presents data on social capital at the United States’ county-level. Following Rupasi... more This article presents data on social capital at the United States’ county-level. Following Rupasingha et al. (2006), the social capital index captures the common factor among density measures of 10 different types of associations, voter turnout rates, U.S. decennial census participation rates, and the number of non-profit organizations. Based on Knack (2003), we create associational densities measures as a proxy for both bridging and bonding social capital. Including data on income inequality, racial diversity, minority group size, average household income, educational attainment, the ratio of a family household, the size of migration population, and female labor market participation rates, the data covers 3,104 U.S. counties for both 2009 and 2014. This paper includes descriptive statistics and figures. This data article is associated with the article “Race, Inequality, and Social Capital in the U.S. Counties.”

Research paper thumbnail of Emotions Condition the Influence of Racial Resentment on Policy Positions

Research paper thumbnail of Partnering Up: Coalitions Between African American Female and Latina Legislators

Research paper thumbnail of Partnering Up: Coalitions Among Black Female & Latina State Legislators

Research paper thumbnail of Race, inequality, and social capital in the U.S. counties

The Social Science Journal, 2020

This study examines how the interplay between racial diversity and economic inequality affects va... more This study examines how the interplay between racial diversity and economic inequality affects variations of social capital in the U.S. counties. In general, racial and economic heterogeneity is assumed to provide a negative environment for the growth of social capital. Building on this, we argue the effect of economic inequality is weaker than that of racial diversity because increased economic heterogeneity is felt less visibly and acutely than racial heterogeneity. Moreover, economic inequality can positively condition the adverse impact of racial diversity on social capital when the two interact. Based on the crosscutting cleavages theory, income inequality in a racially fragmented community works as an additional cleavage that crosscuts the different racial groups, mitigating the negative impact of racial diversity on social capital. The data analysis of 3,140 U.S. counties in 2009-2014 provides strong evidence for our arguments. Our findings offer important implications in understanding inequality, race and American democracy.

Research paper thumbnail of A Comparative Analysis of the Attitudes toward the U.S.-Mexico Border Policy: Evaluating Perspectives on Border Security and Building a Wall in the Rio Grande Valley, National Hispanic and General U.S. Populations

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 2020

Recently, there has been a surge of national attention toward the U.S.-Mexican border in South Te... more Recently, there has been a surge of national attention toward the U.S.-Mexican border in South Texas, known as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). Despite the attention and potential impact, which the wall would directly have on the RGV community, there has been no systemic attention paid to the opinions of the RGV residents regarding the proposed wall and other related immigration policies. This article, therefore, aims to fill this gap by comparing immigration policy attitudes in the borderland communities to both the national Hispanic and the general national populations. By utilizing original data from an RGV public opinion survey we conducted in 2018, our analysis shows that RGV residents hold more lenient immigration attitudes than do both the national Hispanic and the general populations. We utilize logistic regression analysis to further our understanding of the correlates of these attitudes across different samples. Our findings provide important policy and political implications.

Research paper thumbnail of Take Two on Race and Politics

for adopting me into their family and looking out for me throughout this journey. I would like to... more for adopting me into their family and looking out for me throughout this journey. I would like to express my gratitude and love for my family. My father (Ernst Altema) and mother (Ginette B. Altema) inspire me to achieve my dreams and to believe in my ability to succeed. I am forever grateful for their unending support and words of encouragement. I would also like to thank my father-in-law (Reverend Bruce McNeely) and mother-in-law (Carol McNeely), my brothers and sisters-in-law, and nephews for embracing me into their wonderful family. I would like to thank my husband (Drew) for his love, encouragement, and support. We made an awesome team as both of us sought to complete our graduate educations.

Research paper thumbnail of How the Link Between Social Capital and Migratory Duration Helps Us Understand Immigrant-Native Inequality*

Social Science Quarterly, 2018

Objective. In the aggregate, people are socioeconomic indicators who are better off in high socia... more Objective. In the aggregate, people are socioeconomic indicators who are better off in high social capital environments. But the gap between natives and immigrants is large in these same areas. In this article, we offer an alternative argument for the effect of social capital on inequality between immigrants and natives. Methods. We use a duration modeling analysis of data on migratory stays supplied by the Mexican Migration Project to link social capital to immigration trends. Results. We suggest that social capital may be reducing equality for benign reasons and show that social capital is a resource that mostly benefits unauthorized immigrants in punitive policy environments. Unauthorized immigrants are encouraged to settle in high social capital states to gain access to these resources. This group tends to be less assimilated and possesses few socioeconomic resources. Conclusion. High social capital states are unequal not because social capital produces inequality but because it is valued by immigrants who are faring poorly. The most vulnerable immigrants benefit the most from living in places where social networks and feelings of generalized trust are strong.

Research paper thumbnail of Bringing Race Back In: Black Politicians, Deracialization and Voting Behavior in the Age of Obama

New Political Science, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Symbolic Racism and Emotional Responses to the 2012 Presidential Candidates

Political Research Quarterly, 2014

Racial attitudes toward African American candidates are partially explained by symbolic racism, w... more Racial attitudes toward African American candidates are partially explained by symbolic racism, which has replaced overt racism in responses to these candidates. However, as typically operationalized, symbolic racism as applied to candidate assessments fails to account for the emotions generated by a political campaign. Symbolic racism’s effects are moderated when emotional responses to Barack Obama are included in a candidate evaluation model, while emotions remain an important predictor. While symbolic racism and negative emotions lower evaluations, the presence of the positive emotions generated by the 2012 campaign counteracted both. Inclusion of both symbolic racism and emotion is necessary to understand perceptions of Obama as a black presidential candidate.

Research paper thumbnail of Symbolic Racism and Emotional Responses to the 2012 Presidential Candidates

Political Research Quarterly, 2014

Racial attitudes toward African American candidates are partially explained by symbolic racism, w... more Racial attitudes toward African American candidates are partially explained by symbolic racism, which has replaced overt racism in responses to these candidates. However, as typically operationalized, symbolic racism as applied to candidate assessments fails to account for the emotions generated by a political campaign. Symbolic racism’s effects are moderated when emotional responses to Barack Obama are included in a candidate evaluation model, while emotions remain an important predictor. While symbolic racism and negative emotions lower evaluations, the presence of the positive emotions generated by the 2012 campaign counteracted both. Inclusion of both symbolic racism and emotion is necessary to understand perceptions of Obama as a black presidential candidate.

Research paper thumbnail of How support for Latino candidates encourages municipal reforms: evidence from the Local Elections in America Project

Politics, Groups, and Identities, 2015

Scholarship rightfully emphasizes how electoral institutions affect minority representation and p... more Scholarship rightfully emphasizes how electoral institutions affect minority representation and policy outcomes. But how do racial and ethnic environments shape institutions? We address this question by examining how support for Latino candidates affects attempts to modify rules regarding governance and elections. To do so, we rely on new data from the Local Elections in America Project and the International City/County Management Association. We find that the percentage of votes that go to Latino candidates, as well as changes over time in Latino vote share, predicts the probability that a reform effort will take place. Both relationships are nonlinear and suggest a high degree of strategic behavior on the part of elite actors within cities.

Research paper thumbnail of Race, Inequality, and Social Capital in the U.S. Counties

The Social Science Journal, 2020

This study examines how the interplay between racial diversity and economic inequality affects va... more This study examines how the interplay between racial diversity and economic inequality affects variations of social capital in the U.S. counties. In general, racial and economic heterogeneity is assumed to provide a negative environment for the growth of social capital. Building on this, we argue the effect of economic inequality is weaker than that of racial diversity because increased economic heterogeneity is felt less visibly and acutely than racial heterogeneity. Moreover, economic inequality can positively condition the adverse impact of racial diversity on social capital when the two interact. Based on the crosscutting cleavages theory, income inequality in a racially fragmented community works as an additional cleavage that crosscuts the different racial groups, mitigating the negative impact of racial diversity on social capital. The data analysis of 3,140 U.S. counties in 2009-2014 provides strong evidence for our arguments. Our findings offer important implications in understanding inequality, race and American democracy.