Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wzw2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-14T03:30:39.441Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Revolution against Affirmative Action in California: Racism, Economics, and Proposition 209

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

R. Michael Alvarez  and
Lisa García Bedolla
R. Michael Alvarez
Affiliation:
California Institute of Technology
Lisa García Bedolla
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 209, which banned the use of affirmative action in state hiring, contracting, and public university admissions. We know that white voters favored Proposition 209 more than nonwhite voters—the question is, why? Did they feel that the racial preferences given to growing numbers of members of racial and ethnic groups threatened them economically, or were they just motivated by old-fashioned racism? We test these two possible explanations—economic anxiety and racial division—for the appeal of Proposition 209 to California voters using exit poll data. We find little support for the economic anxiety explanation. Instead, racial division seems to be the best way to understand white voting on Proposition 209.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Spring 2004 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alvarez, R. Michael. 1998. Information and Elections. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, and Glasgow, Garrett. 2000. “Two-Stage Estimation of Nonrecursive Choice Models.” Political Analysis 8:147–65.Google Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, and Brehm, John. 1997. “Are Americans Ambivalent Towards Racial Policies?” American Journal of Political Science 41:345–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, and Nagler, Jonathan. 1995. “Economics, Issues and the Perot Candidacy: Voter Choice in the 1992 Presidential Election.” American Journal of Political Science 39:714–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, and Nagler, Jonathan. 1998. “When Politics and Models Collide: Estimating Models of Multicandidate Elections.” American Journal of Political Science 42:1349–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvarez, R. Michael, and Butterfield, Tara L.. 2000. “The Resurgence of Nativism in California? The Case of Proposition 187 and Illegal Immigration.” Social Science Quarterly 81:167–79.Google Scholar
Baldassare, Mark. 2000. California in the New Millennium: The Changing Social and Political Landscape. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence, and Hutchings, Vincent L.. 1996. “Perceptions of Racial Group Competition: Extending Blumer's Theory of Group Position to a Multiracial Social Context.” American Sociological Review 61:951–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, Shaun, and Donovan, Todd. 1998. Demanding Choices: Opinion, Voting and Direct Democracy. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, Shaun, Donovan, Todd, and Happ, Trudi. 1992. “Ballot Propositions and Information Costs: Direct Democracy and the Fatigued Voter.” Western Political Quarterly 45:559–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chavez, Lydia. 1998. The Color Bind. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Decker, Cathleen, and Barabak, Mark. 1997. “After Years of Upheaval, a Time of Contentment,” The Los Angeles Times, 21 October, online edition.Google Scholar
Democratic National Committee. 1997. Affirmative Action. Position paper. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Glasgow, Garrett. 2001. “Mixed Logit Models for Multiparty Elections.” Political Analysis 9:116–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, Donald P., Strolovitch, Dara Z., and Wong, Janelle S.. 1998. “Defended Neighborhoods, Integration and Racially Motivated Crime.” American Journal of Sociology 104:372–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guerrero, M. A. Jaime. 1997. “Affirmative Action: Race, Class, Gender, and NOW.” American Behavioral Scientist 41:246–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hajnal, Zoltan L., Gerber, Elisabeth R., and Louch, Hugh. 2002. “Minorities and Direct Legislation: Evidence from California Ballot Proposition Elections.” Journal of Politics 64:154–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill-Holtzman, Nancy. 1996. “Valley's Pro-209 Vote at Odds with City, County.” The Los Angeles Times, 9 November, online edition.Google Scholar
Key, V.O. Jr. 1949. Southern Politics in State and Nation. New York: Vintage.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Sanders, Lynn M.. 1996. “The Continuing American Dilemma: White Resistance to Racial Change 40 Years after Myrdal.” Journal of Social Issues 42:151–71.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Mendelberg, Tali. 1995. “Cracks in American Apartheid: The Political Impact of Prejudice among Desegregated Whites.” Journal of Politics 57:402–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krysan, Maria. 1995. “White Racial Attitudes: Does It Matter How We Ask?” Ph.D. diss. University of Michigan.Google Scholar
Kuklinski, James H., Sniderman, Paul M., Knight, Kathleen, Piazza, Thomas, Tetlock, Philip E., Lawrence, Gordon R., and Mellers, Barbara. 1997. “Racial Prejudice and Attitudes toward Affirmative Action.” American Journal of Political Science 41:402–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupia, Arthur. 1994. “Shortcuts Versus Encyclopedias: Information and Voting Behavior in California Insurance Reform Elections.” American Political Science Review 88:63–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magleby, David B. 1984. Direct Legislation: Voting on Ballot Propositions in the United States. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
McConahay, John B. 1986. “Modern Racism, Ambivalence, and the Modern Racism Scale.” In Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism: Theory and Research, eds. Dovidio, J. and Gaertner, S.L.. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Oliver, Eric J., and Mendelberg, Tali. 2000. “Reconsidering the Environmental Determinants of White Racial Attitudes.” American Journal of Political Science 44:574–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Popkin, Samuel L. 1991. The Reasoning Voter: Communications and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Republican National Committee. 1996. 1996 Republican Party Platform. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Smith, Daniel A., and Tolbert, Caroline J.. 2001. “The Initiative to Party: Partisanship and Ballot Initiatives in California.” Party Politics 7:739–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M., and Hagen, M.. 1985. Race and Inequality. New York: Chatham House.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M., and Piazza, Thomas. 1993. The Scar of Race. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press.Google Scholar
Steeh, Charlotte, and Krysan, Maria. 1996. “The Polls-Trends: Affirmative Action and the Public 1970-1995.” Public Opinion Quarterly 60:128–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sudman, Seymour, and Bradburn, Norman M.. 1982. Asking Questions: A Practical Guide to Questionnaire Design. New York: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Tolbert, Caroline J., and Hero, Rodney E.. 2001. “Dealing with Diversity: Racial/Ethnic Context and Social Policy Change.” Political Research Quarterly 54:571–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voss, D. Stephen. 1996. “Beyond Racial Threat: Failure of an Old Hypothesis in the New South.” Journal of Politics 58:1156–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voter News Service. 1997. VOTER NEWS SERVICE GENERAL ELECTION EXIT POLLS, 1996 [Computer file]. ICPSR version. New York, NY: Voter News Service [producer], 1996. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1997.Google Scholar