White Candidates Research Articles

What Have We Learned about Gender from Candidate Choice Experiments? A Meta-Analysis of Sixty-Seven Factorial Survey Experiments

Candidate choice survey experiments in the form of conjoint or vignette experiments have become a standard part of the political science toolkit for understanding the effects of candidate characteristics on vote choice. We collect 67 such studies from all over the world and reanalyze them using a standardized approach. We find that the average effect of being a woman (relative to a man) is a gain of approximately 2 percentage points. We find some evidence of heterogeneity across contexts, candidates, and respondents. The difference is somewhat larger for white (vs. black) candidates and among survey respondents who are women (vs. men) or, in the US context, identify as Democrats or Independents (vs. Republicans). Our results add to the growing body of experimental and observational evidence that voter preferences are not a major factor explaining the persistently low rates of women in elected office.

Contributors

Contributors

Imperative Patriotism and Minority Candidacies: Examining the Role of Military Status in Racial Evaluations of South Asian Candidates

South Asians have seen an increase in representation at all levels of US government, from Congress to the Vice Presidency, yet a paucity of work has been done examining South Asian candidates in America. The distinct nature of South Asian candidacies allows us to examine the intersection between race and religious identity and how emphasizing different social and political identities impact minority candidate evaluations. We theorize the potential effects of racial-political stereotyping of South Asians, focusing specifically on how a Hindu or Muslim background may negatively influence candidate evaluation. Additionally, we consider whether military service has any effect on evaluations of South Asian candidates as dangerous or deficient. We test this theory with a survey experiment that varies both South Asian religious identity, political ideology, and military service. Our findings indicate that white respondents are more hostile to South Asian candidates when compared to white candidates with similar biographies, and that respondents are particularly hostile to Muslim candidates. Cueing military service alleviates this handicap for Muslim candidates, but further analysis reveals that military service only improves perceptions among Democratic respondents.

Gender, diversity and the 2020 US presidential election: towards an androgynous presidential profile?

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore issues of gender and diversity raised by the 2020 US presidential election.Design/methodology/approachSamples from two populations (n = 667) described either an ideal president or one of the major-party candidates for president (Donald Trump and Joe Biden) or vice president (Mike Pence and Kamala Harris) on an instrument that assessed self-ascribed masculinity and femininity. Androgyny was calculated as the difference between masculinity and femininity; the closer the score to zero, the more androgynous the candidate.FindingsThe ideal president was viewed as androgynous (i.e. balanced in masculine and feminine traits) rather than masculine as in previous studies of presidential leadership. Compared to the White male candidates, Harris, a woman of color, displayed the most androgynous profile. The Democratic ticket represented a “balanced” team, with one candidate (Biden) higher on femininity and the other (Harris) higher on masculinity; in essence, an androgynous ticket. In contrast, the Republican ticket (Trump and Pence) represented a decidedly masculine ticket. Ideal president profiles differed according to respondents’ gender and preferred president.Practical implicationsThe Democrats winning the election with an androgynous ticket suggests that a more level playing field for female vis-à-vis male candidates for political leader roles may be arriving.Originality/valueThe finding of an ideal president as androgynous rather than masculine is an original contribution to the literature on presidential leadership.

Differential attainment at MRCS according to gender, ethnicity, age and socioeconomic factors: a retrospective cohort study.

SummaryObjectiveA recent independent review on diversity and inclusivity highlighted concerns that barriers to surgical career progression exist for some groups of individuals and not others. Group-level differences in performance at the Intercollegiate Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (MRCS) examinations have been identified but are yet to be investigated. We aimed to characterise the relationship between sociodemographic differences and performance at MRCS.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingSecondary care.ParticipantsAll UK MRCS candidates attempting Part A (n = 5780) and Part B (n = 2600) between 2013 and 2019 with linked sociodemographic data in the UK Medical Education Database (https://www.ukmed.ac.uk).Main outcome measuresChi-square tests established univariate associations with MRCS performance. Multiple logistic regression identified independent predictors of success, adjusted for medical school performance.ResultsStatistically significant differences in MRCS pass rates were found according to gender, ethnicity, age, graduate status, educational background and socioeconomic status (all p < 0.05). After adjusting for prior academic attainment, being male (odds ratio [OR] 2.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.87–2.92) or a non-graduate (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.44–2.74) were independent predictors of MRCS Part A success and being a non-graduate (OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.15–2.71) and having attended a fee-paying school (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.08–2.10) were independent predictors of Part B success. Black and minority ethnic groups were significantly less likely to pass MRCS Part B at their first attempt (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.18–0.92 for Black candidates and OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.35–0.69 for Asian candidates) compared to White candidates.ConclusionsThere is significant group-level differential attainment at MRCS, likely to represent the accumulation of privilege and disadvantage experienced by individuals throughout their education and training. Those leading surgical education now have a responsibility to identify and address the causes of these attainment differences.

Is More Better? Effects of Newsroom and Audience Diversity on Trait Coverage of Minority Candidates

AbstractThis article examines how the racial composition of newsrooms and that of the news audiences influence campaign coverage of candidates. Using observational data compiled from multiple sources for analyses, our findings suggest that candidate trait coverage is influenced by what we term racial congruence at two levels. First, when the number of non-white journalists increases in newsroom, white candidates are more likely to receive positive trait coverage than non-white candidates, which is likely compounded by multiple constraints racial minority journalists face in the newsroom. This racial congruence phenomenon is also present in areas with large non-white adult populations. The larger this population, the higher is favorable news coverage for non-white candidates compared to white candidates. The race of candidates, journalists, and audiences does not have a combined effect on news coverage, indicating that the effects of more diverse newsroom members are not necessarily driven by market incentives.

Genome-wide association study reveals white lupin candidate gene involved in anthracnose resistance

Key messageGWAS identifies candidate gene controlling resistance to anthracnose disease in white lupin.White lupin (Lupinus albus L.) is a promising grain legume to meet the growing demand for plant-based protein. Its cultivation, however, is severely threatened by anthracnose disease caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum lupini. To dissect the genetic architecture for anthracnose resistance, genotyping by sequencing was performed on white lupin accessions collected from the center of domestication and traditional cultivation regions. GBS resulted in 4611 high-quality single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for 181 accessions, which were combined with resistance data observed under controlled conditions to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS). Obtained disease phenotypes were shown to highly correlate with overall three-year disease assessments under Swiss field conditions (r > 0.8). GWAS results identified two significant SNPs associated with anthracnose resistance on gene Lalb_Chr05_g0216161 encoding a RING zinc-finger E3 ubiquitin ligase which is potentially involved in plant immunity. Population analysis showed a remarkably fast linkage disequilibrium decay, weak population structure and grouping of commercial varieties with landraces, corresponding to the slow domestication history and scarcity of modern breeding efforts in white lupin. Together with 15 highly resistant accessions identified in the resistance assay, our findings show promise for further crop improvement. This study provides the basis for marker-assisted selection, genomic prediction and studies aimed at understanding anthracnose resistance mechanisms in white lupin and contributes to improving breeding programs worldwide.

The effect of race coefficients on preemptive listing for kidney transplantation.

ABSTRACTBackgroundRace coefficients of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) formulas may be partially responsible for racial inequality in preemptive listing for kidney transplantation.MethodsWe used the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database to evaluate differences in racial distribution of preemptive listing before and after application of the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) and the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) race coefficients to all preemptively listed non-Black kidney transplant candidates (eGFR modulation). Odds of preemptive listing were calculated by race, with Black as the reference before and after eGFR modulation. Variables known to influence preemptive listing were included in the model.ResultsAmong 385 087 kidney-alone transplant candidates from 1 January 2010 to 2 December 2020, 118 329 (30.7%) candidates were identified as preemptively listed (71.7% White, 19% Black, 7.8% Asian, 0.6% multi-racial, 0.6% Native American and 0.3% Pacific Islander). After eGFR modulation, non-Black patients with an eGFR ≥20 mL/min/1.73 m2 were removed. Compared with Black candidates, the adjusted odds of preemptive listing for White candidates decreased from 2.01 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.78–2.26] before eGFR modulation to 1.18 (95% CI 1.0–1.39; P = 0.046) with the MDRD and 1.37 (95% CI 1.18–1.58) with the CKD-EPI equations after adjusting for race coefficients.ConclusionsRemoving race coefficients in GFR estimation formulas may result in a more equitable distribution of Black candidates listed earlier on a preemptive basis.

Racial Disparities in Lifer Parole Outcomes: The Hidden Role of Professional Evaluations

One in seven people in prison in the US is serving a life sentence, and most of these people will eventually be eligible for discretionary parole release. Yet parole hearings are notoriously understudied. With only a handful of exceptions, few researchers have considered the ways in which race shapes decision-makers’ perception of parole candidates. We use a data set created from over seven hundred California lifer parole hearing transcripts to examine the factors that predict parole commissioners’ decisions. We find significant racial disparities in outcomes, with Black parole candidates less likely to receive parole grants than white parole candidates, and test two possible indirect mechanisms. First, we find that racial disparity is unassociated with differences in rehabilitative efforts of Black versus white parole candidates, suggesting that differential levels of self-rehabilitation are not responsible for the disparity. Second, we test the hypothesis that racial disparity owes to commissioners’ reliance on other professionals’ determinations: psychological assessments, behavioral judgments, and prosecutors’ recommendations. We find that reliance on these evaluations accounts for a significant portion of the observed racial disparity. These results suggest that inclusion of professional assessments is not race-neutral and may create a veneer of objectivity that masks racial inequality.

Effects of regular and joke dog whistles on perceptions of political candidates

Abstract Our experiment showed a scenario where a White politician used a racist dog whistle (DW) when referring to his Black opponent. We used pilot data to determine DW statements and then tested whether different DWs (joke or regular) would affect perceptions of candidates based on participants’ levels of subtle and explicit racism compared to a comment without racial undertones. Our results indicated that while neither DW affected perceptions of the Black candidate based on participants’ levels of subtle racism, when a regular DW was used, subtle racism was positively associated with more positive perceptions of the White candidate. Our findings can broadly be explained within the context of modern racism and the suppression justification model of prejudice. The presence of a DW served as a prime, allowing those who have subtle anti-Black prejudice to express it through more positive personal perceptions of the White candidate. Without opportunities to justify the expression of their subtle prejudice (i.e. have a non-prejudice reason to dislike the candidate), the participants’ did not report more negative perceptions of the Black candidate. However, there was a “backlash” and participants were less likely to consider voting for the White candidate, particularly when he used a joke DW.

Hiring discrimination on the basis of skin colour? A correspondence test in Switzerland

ABSTRACT With the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, the situation of Black people in many Western countries has come under closer scrutiny and ethnic discrimination has been brought to the forefront. Little is known about hiring discrimination against Blacks in many European countries. In a correspondence test in the Swiss labour market, we sent fictitious paired applications by candidates of Swiss (ostensibly White) and Cameroonian descent (ostensibly Black) in response to 354 adverts for sales assistants and electricians. We report significant discrimination against Black job seekers, who must send around 30 per cent more applications than White candidates in order to be invited to a job interview. The level of discrimination is substantively equivalent to results for applicants with a Kosovo-Albanian name that were included in previous correspondence tests in Switzerland. This suggests that in the Swiss case there is on average no additional penalty for skin colour. Explorations, however, reveal significant differences in discrimination rates between urban and rural settings, opening new avenues for understanding why ethnic and racial discrimination vary across geographical contexts.

Race and Campaign Resources: Candidate Identification Numbers in Brazil

Party elites may hinder racial and ethnic minorities from winning public office by withholding resources. Prior studies have explored the distribution of money, media access, and party-list positions. In Brazil, party elites provide each candidate with a unique identification number. Voters must enter their preferred candidate’s identification number into an electronic voting machine to register their support. In this article, we replicate and extend Bueno and Dunning’s (2017) analysis of candidate identification numbers. They conclude that party elites do not provide white candidates with superior identification numbers than non-whites. We contend that assessing intraparty variation is theoretically and methodologically warranted. Using party fixed effects, we find that party elites provide non-white candidates with worse identification numbers than whites. We demonstrate that our findings are generalisable using data from other elections. Moreover, we show that party elites also withhold advantageous numbers from women and political novices.

Association between ethnicity and kidney transplant waitlist outcomes beyond estimated post‐transplant survival score

White kidney transplant candidates have the highest pre-transplant mortality rate compared to other ethnicities. The reason for a higher mortality rate is not well-understood. Estimated post-transplant survival (EPTS) score has been used to predict patient survival after transplant and may be associated with pre-transplant survival. First-time kidney transplant candidates listed between 2015 and 2018 were identified from the Organ Procurement Transplantation Network database. Individuals listed for multiple organs, at multiple centers, and age <18years were excluded. We examined the impact of ethnicity on waitlist mortality and delisting. A total of 114806 candidates were included. The study population was categorized into four groups which were 43% white, 28% Black, 19.2% Hispanic, and 9.8% "other ethnicities." At 5.2years, the cumulative incidences of death and delist were 32%, 31%, 29%, and 26%, respectively. Compared to whites, adjusted subdistribution hazard ratio (aSHR) for death and delist among Black, Hispanics, and "other ethnicities" were 0.92 (95% CI 0.89-0.95), 0.89 (95% CI 0.85-0.91), and 0.76 (95% CI 0.72-0.80) after adjustment by EPTS along with other factors, respectively. After adjusting for EPTS score along with additional confounding factors and functional status at initial listing, white ethnicity was independently associated with an increased risk for death and delist.

The intersection of race and party: voter perceptions and candidate selection in U.S. Senate elections

ABSTRACT Previous literature suggests that Democratic candidates of color receive less support than white Democrats on Election Day. It has been suggested that this reduced support is due to voters’ ideological perceptions of people of color being more liberal than whites, which translates into perceptions of candidates. However, these studies are frequently limited to white voters’ perceptions of Democratic candidates of color, and the full relationship linking race/ethnicity, to ideological placement, to vote choice has rarely been tested. In the current study, we examine how both the race/ethnicity and party affiliation of Senate candidates shape perceptions of their ideology and vote choice among people of all race and ethnicities. Using the 2006–2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we find support for our hypothesis that Black Democrats are generally perceived as more liberal than white Democrats. These perceptions have real consequences, resulting in fewer votes. Conversely, Black Republican candidates are perceived to be just as conservative—and Hispanic Republicans even more conservative—than white Republican candidates. Findings suggest that the link between race/ethnicity, perceptions of ideology, and electoral success vary according to the race/ethnicity and party of candidates.

Androgyny and the 2020 US Presidential Election: The Benefits of a “Balanced” Ticket?

Data gathered from 667 respondents during the 2020 U S presidential election showed that, in contrast to previous studies of presidential leadership, the Ideal President was viewed as androgynous (i.e., balanced in masculine and feminine traits) rather than masculine. None of the four (President and Vice-President) major party candidates fit the ideal profile perfectly. Donald Trump, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris were perceived as higher on masculinity than femininity, whereas Joe Biden was perceived as higher in femininity than masculinity. Compared to the White male candidates, Harris, a woman of color, was most notably perceived as the opposite of her running mate Biden in both masculinity and femininity. Male and female respondents perceived the Ideal President differently, men as higher in masculinity than femininity and women as higher in femininity than masculinity. Respondents’ presidential candidate preferences were related to their descriptions of the Ideal President: Trump supporters perceived the Ideal President as higher in masculinity than femininity, whereas Biden supporters perceived the Ideal President as balanced in masculinity and femininity. The Democratic ticket as a whole represented a balanced team, with one candidate higher on femininity and the other higher on masculinity; in essence, an androgynous ticket. In contrast, the Republican ticket as a whole represented a decidedly masculine team. That the Democratic ticket clearly won the election (both the popular vote and the electoral college vote) with an androgynous ticket raises the question of whether the relationship between gender and leader stereotypes has shifted towards a more level playing field for female vis-à-vis male candidates for leader roles.

Racial Disparities in Adult Cochlear Implantation.

To compare rates of cochlear implant referral and cochlear implantation across different races and to compare audiometric profiles of these patients. Retrospective study. Academic tertiary care institution. Demographic and audiometric data were collected for patients who underwent cochlear implant evaluation or cochlear implantation from 2010 to 2020. A total of 504 patients underwent cochlear implant evaluation; 388 met cochlear implant candidacy criteria, and 258 underwent implantation. Of the patients referred for cochlear implant evaluation, 68.5% were White, 18.5% were Black, and 12.3% were Asian, while the institution's primary service area is 46.9% White, 42.3% Black, and 7.7% Asian (P < .001). Black patients referred for cochlear implant evaluation had significantly worse hearing (mean pure-tone average [PTA] 84.5 dB, 26.1% word recognition) than White patients (mean PTA 78.2 dB, P = .005; 35.7% word recognition, P = .015) and Asians patients (mean PTA 77.9 dB, P = .04; 36.5% word recognition, P = .04). Black patients who underwent cochlear implant evaluation also had significantly worse AzBio scores than White patients: 24.5% versus 36.7% (P = .003). There was no significant difference in cochlear implantation rates between Black and White candidates (P = .06). Black patients undergo cochlear implant evaluation and cochlear implantation at rates disproportionately lower than expected based on local demographics. In addition, Black patients have significantly worse hearing at the time of cochlear implant referral than White and Asian patients. Identifying and increasing awareness of these disparities are essential steps to improving cochlear implant access for potentially disadvantaged populations.

Race and Resources in Brazilian Mayoral Elections

Elected officials routinely do not reflect the racial diversity of the citizenry. In Latin America, these descriptive gaps are particularly pronounced. A growing number of studies investigate the causes of racial disparities in representation, however, extant research largely focuses on national assemblies. In this paper, I extend this well-trod line of research to an understudied context, local elections. Using a dataset that covers mayoral elections in Brazil, I demonstrate that multiple factors hinder Afro-Brazilians, who comprise a majority of the Brazilian population, from winning public office. I show that barriers to candidate entry, resource disparities between white and Afro-Brazilian candidates, and race-based preferences among voters contribute to racial inequality in political representation. These results indicate that members of marginalized racial groups often must overcome multiple barriers to achieve electoral success.

Simultaneous Pancreas-kidney Transplantation for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

We read with interest the “KDIGO Clinical Practice Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Candidates for Kidney Transplantation” published in the April 2020 issue of Transplantation,1 and we congratulate the authors for this important work. However, we are surprised to see the omission of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) (often identified by having a normal c-peptide) as potential candidates for simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPK) (Recommendation 8.1.1: We suggest candidates with ESKD and type 1 DM be considered for simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation in regions where this procedure is available [2A]). Numerous studies in the past decade have shown that carefully chosen SPK recipients with type 2 DM have comparable outcomes including patient and graft survival, reduction in overall morbidity, and improvement in quality-of-life metrics as those with type 1 DM. An analysis of the primary deceased donor pancreas transplants in patients with type 2 DM reported to International Pancreas Transplant Registry/United Network of Organ Sharing between 1995 and 2015 showed that SPK is a safe procedure with excellent pancreas and kidney graft outcome in patients with type 2 DM.2 In addition, in the United States, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network policy reflecting careful review of these data does not differentiate between type 1 and type 2 DM patients for SPK candidacy and allows the treatment option for any diabetic patient on insulin.3 Certainly, careful patient selection is paramount. Furthermore, restriction of SPK solely to type 1 DM patients disadvantages African Americans. In the United States, White Americans are more likely to develop type 1 DM, but the prevalence of type 2 DM is 1.4-fold to 2.3-fold higher in African Americans compared with White Americans. African Americans bear a disproportionate burden of the morbidity associated with diabetes, including a higher rate of retinopathy, microalbuminuria, end-stage kidney disease, lower-extremity amputation, and significant mortality. The waiting time for transplant is longer for African Americans than White candidates, and living-donor kidney transplantation rate is lowest for African Americans compared with all other racial groups. SPK allows for both shorter waiting time and often better-quality kidneys as compared with receiving a deceased donor kidney transplant alone, when living-donor kidney transplantation is not an option. Although a major revision to the US pancreas allocation system in 2014 has resulted in a demonstrable increase in pancreas transplant volume, the needs of the diabetic community remain unmet.4 Largely driven by SPK, pancreas transplants in patients with type 2 DM have increased, with comparable results to type 1 DM recipients.5 The proportion of patients with type 2 DM on the waiting list increased to 14.6% in 2018 (Figure 1), with SPK candidates accounting for 74.2% of the list.5 We respectfully request that KDIGO guidelines incorporate current evidence and practice to recommend SPK to medically suitable diabetic patients on insulin regardless of type. This change would be an important step to reduce the inequities in access to transplant benefits to racial minorities with type 2 DM.FIGURE 1.: Distribution of adults waiting for pancreas transplant by diagnosis. Candidates waiting for transplant at any time in the given year. Candidates listed concurrently at multiple centers are counted once. Active and inactive candidates are included.5

Diversity Initiatives and White Americans’ Perceptions of Racial Victimhood

Seven experiments explore whether organizational diversity initiatives heighten White Americans' concerns about the respect and value afforded toward their racial group and increase their perceptions of anti-White bias. The presence (vs. absence) of organizational diversity initiatives (i.e., diversity awards, diversity training, diversity mission statements) caused White Americans to perceive Whites as less respected and valued than Blacks and to blame a White man's rejection for a promotion on anti-White bias. Several moderators were tested, including evidence that Whites were clearly advantaged within the organization, that the rejected White candidate was less meritorious than the Black candidate, that promotion opportunities were abundant (vs. scarce), and individual differences related to support for the status hierarchy and identification with Whites. There was little evidence that these moderators reduced Whites' perceptions of diversity initiatives as harmful to their racial group.

A hot subdwarf–white dwarf super-Chandrasekhar candidate supernova Ia progenitor

Supernova Ia are bright explosive events that can be used to estimate cosmological distances, allowing us to study the expansion of the Universe. They are understood to result from a thermonuclear detonation in a white dwarf that formed from the exhausted core of a star more massive than the Sun. However, the possible progenitor channels leading to an explosion are a long-standing debate, limiting the precision and accuracy of supernova Ia as distance indicators. Here we present HD265435, a binary system with an orbital period of less than a hundred minutes, consisting of a white dwarf and a hot subdwarf -- a stripped core-helium burning star. The total mass of the system is 1.65+/-0.25 solar-masses, exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit (the maximum mass of a stable white dwarf). The system will merge due to gravitational wave emission in 70 million years, likely triggering a supernova Ia event. We use this detection to place constraints on the contribution of hot subdwarf-white dwarf binaries to supernova Ia progenitors.