Description
Book SynopsisElections are in trouble with general low levels of interest and turnout; Jeanette Morehouse Mendez and Rebekah Herrick suggest that if candidates looked more like America does, these problems would decrease. They call these elections where candidates differ in key social demographic traits descriptive elections. They predict that races that have candidates of different race and/or gender will see higher voter turnout out, because voters will be more interested in these races and will have less alienation and indifference. In addition, they predict that voters' stereotypes/gender preferences, as well as elite behavior, can contribute to greater voter engagement. They also predict that campaigns in these elections will discuss a wider variety of issues, and the media will do likewise. They test their expectations by examining the gender mix of candidates in gubernatorial, congressional, and state legislative races. The results suggest that voters in mixed-gender and women-only elections
Trade ReviewMendez and Herrick offer a fresh perspective on diversity and U.S. elections. With new data and a host of analyses, they advance the notion of ‘descriptive elections’ and identify the significance of different types of elections for voter engagement and turnout. They show that mixed-gender contests can alter attitudes and behavior, providing important evidence of how voters use gender as a cue. With attention to multiple levels of office and a focus on electoral contests—rather than candidates—this book advances representation research in interesting ways. -- Kira Sanbonmatsu, Rutgers University
Jeanette Morehouse Mendez and Rebecca Herrick provide a novel framework for analyzing elections based on the demographic characteristics of candidates and modeled on the concept of descriptive representation. Focusing on the gender composition of opposing candidates in races at congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative levels, they find that gender diversity has its strongest effects, leading to higher levels of both engagement and turnout, in races where a Democratic woman runs against a Republican man. The authors' research provides convincing evidence for the utility of their descriptive elections framework, underscores the importance of gender as a category of analysis in understanding election results, and bolsters the authors' contention that diverse candidates are good for democracy. -- Susan J. Carroll, Co-author of “A Seat at the Table: Congresswomen’s Perspectives on Why Their Presence Matters”, Rutgers University
Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: The Theory of Descriptive Elections Chapter 2: The Effects of Descriptive Elections on Turnout Chapter 3: Effects of Descriptive Elections on Voter Engagement Chapter 4: Descriptive Elections and Campaign Ads Chapter 5: Descriptive Elections, Issues and Media Coverage Chapter 6: Descriptive Elections in State Legislative Races Chapter 7: Conclusion Appendix 1: Survey script for scenarios used with student survey Appendix 2: Survey script for scenarios used with MTurk survey Appendix 3: List of Races Appendix 4: List of Issues Coded Appendix 5: List of Traits Coded
