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Prior research has examined how racial and socioeconomic environments influence the racial attitudes of Whites and Blacks. We extend this line of research to explore how local context influences Latinos’ perceived competition with African-Americans. We use the 2006 Latino National Survey and a newly appended contextual data set. We find that having more Black neighbors heightens Latinos’ perceived competition with Blacks, but only when Latinos are economically vulnerable. The presence of African-Americans within Latinos’ neighborhoods is a necessary but insufficient condition for increasing their perceived competition with Blacks; Latinos’ perceived threat is shaped by the combined effect of the neighborhood racial composition and their group’s economic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of racial politics argue that areas with large minority population are characterized by greater levels of policy equity, yet empirical research often fails to find evidence for this prediction. In this article, we develop and test an alternative view of the relationship between minority group size and the representation of minority interests in government using the case of Latino representation in local politics. We argue that Latino group size results in both favorable and unfavorable policy outcomes for Latino communities. The nature of the Latino population, specifically the extent to which it is composed primarily of citizens or noncitizens, explains when each outcome will occur. Latinos achieve more favorable policy outcomes for their interests when the size of the Latino citizen population increases but less favorable outcomes when the number of Latino noncitizens increases. The negative effect of noncitizen group size is mediated by the presence of Latino citizens and representatives. Our hypotheses are tested using data from a national sample of several hundred local school districts and educational policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

How does racial diversity affect public policy outcomes in the states? The policy backlash hypothesis suggests that the presence of blacks increases antagonistic attitudes toward minorities among whites and thus produces racially conservative policies. The electoral constraint hypothesis argues that the presence of blacks increases the size of population that supports policy liberalism and thus results in more liberal policies. The authors reconcile these competing explanations by arguing that the hypothesized negative impact of minority group size on policy liberalism varies across states in accordance with socioeconomic and institutional conditions that strengthen or weaken the impacts of electoral constraint or backlash. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Do White voters use candidate race as a voting cue in biracial electoral contests? We argue that the answer to this question depends on the level of political knowledge and information that voters have rather than on their attitudes toward minorities. Our analyses of precinct- and individual-level data show that White voters who are likely to be informed about candidates vote less often for the Democratic party when the candidate is Black, whereas vote choices of White voters who are unlikely to be informed about candidates are unaffected by candidate race. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

How does the racial environment influence mass political participation? The power--threat hypothesis predicts that a larger out-group population in the surrounding environment increases citizen participation, whereas the relational goods hypothesis predicts that it decreases participation. I attempt to reconcile these conflicting arguments into a single hypothesis positing that citizens' decisions to participate in politics are simultaneously shaped by the power--threat and relational goods effects. I conclude that the racial environment plays a significant role as a determinant of mass participation but in ways more complicated than what simple models of contextual effects suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research demonstrates the importance of citizens’ communication networks as an influence on their political behavior. Yet most findings are limited to samples of Whites or the interaction of Whites with their discussants. This article extends our attention to the social networks of Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and noncitizens, and explores how communication processes differ across them. Using data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, we first compare various characteristics of social networks across racial and ethnic groups. Second, we test whether the network-based advantages of Whites, compared with other groups, result from differences in individual socioeconomic status or from group-based social resources. Third, we investigate whether interracial interaction affects race-related attitudes. In conclusion, we urge scholars who study social networks to recognize the important consequences of racial diversity for more fully understanding the political behavior of all Americans, whether Anglo, Black, Latino, or Asian. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]