Identity and coalitions in a multiracial era: how state legislators navigate race and ethnicity

Abstract

ABSTRACTResearch on descriptive representatives provides mixed evidence that race informs legislators’ political views. However, past work conflates racial categorization with racial identity, and often lacks variation in race as the key variable. Additionally, few studies examine how diversity within groups may impact intergroup relations within the legislature. The presence of multiracial elected officials prompts us to revisit the linkages descriptive representatives draw between their race and their political outlooks, and to explore the consequences of multiracial legislators’ presence for intergroup relations within the legislature. Interviews with a diverse set of legislators were conducted. For multiracial legislators, questions about phenotypic ambiguity were salient, and narratives suggest their racial identities were consciously chosen, which in turn shaped their politics. The interviews also suggest that some multiracial legislators may encounter challenges to their minority caucus memberships. The findings suggest that as legislatures become more diverse, phenotype and identity choices may complicate intergroup relations in the legislature and how scholars understand what constitutes a descriptive representative.