Descriptive Representation and the Composition of African American Turnout

Abstract

Though many studies have focused on African Americans' turnout levels in descriptively represented electoral districts, few have examined the composition of African‐American turnout in these districts, compared to districts that are not descriptively represented. This study contends that descriptive representation should conditionally affect African Americans' political participation, given preference heterogeneity among this group. It then examines the extent to which the ideological orientations of African Americans condition the effect of their Representative's race in the 104th House on their probability of participating in the 1996 national election. The study finds that when liberal African Americans are descriptively represented, they are more likely to vote, while moderate and conservative African Americans are less likely to vote. These findings not only help to resolve prior studies' disparate conclusions concerning descriptive representation's participatory effects, but they also show that descriptive representation affects which African Americans' interests are communicated to elected officials through voting.