Kasey Rhee

Are white Americans’ views on issues, particularly those where Black interests are at stake, motivated by a desire to match (misperceived) Black views? Put another way: Do white Americans hold incorrect perceptions of Black public opinion and, if so, do these misperceptions motivate whites’ opinion formation?

I hypothesize 1) that White Americans’ misperceive Black public opinion on (racialized and non-racialized) issues; 2) that when informed about Black public opinion on racialized issues, white Americans will change their opinion to match Black public opinion; 3) that this hypothesis will only hold when it is Black public opinion—that is, when informed about white public opinion on racialized issues, white Americans will not show the same change in opinion, even if the white public opinion is the same as the Black public opinion shown in the alternate treatment condition; 4) that this hypothesis will only hold for racialized issues—that is, when informed about Black public opinion on non-racialized issues, white Americans will not show the same change in opinion.

Whose preferences do voters believe politicians are responsible for representing? Using a utility function that models psychological utility and corresponding survey experiment, I distinguish whether voters believe politicians are obligated to represent their geographical constituency or their descriptive constituency. My context of choice is race in the US: do Americans expect descriptive, coethnic representatives to deliver outcomes closer to their ideal point than non-coethnic representatives?