Ellis, Tiana PB Midterm
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Dec 6, 2023
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Tiana Ellis
Political Behavior
POLS 185-01
13 October 2023
Political Behavior Midterm
Three Point Questions
1.
In the Anger Gap, Davin Phoenix argues that anger has been less motivating for Black
politics from Reagan to Trump Presidencies. Using direct quotes, what does Phoenix
argue is the relationship between politics and emotion?
In many parts of American history and politics, anger has been seen as a strong force that
has previously fueled significant political and social movements. In Davin Phoenix’s
“The Anger Gap”, he argues that “black Americans register significantly less anger than
their white counterparts and that anger (in contrast to pride) has a weaker mobilizing
effect on their political participation.” For years, black people have been deemed as
angry, loud, ghetto, and a plethora of additional stereotypes and stigmas. Phoenix
emphasizes these generalizations within his book as one of these reasons why Black
anger is not respected in politics in comparison to white anger. For Black people, being
angry in public can lead to arrests and even death, in some instances, by the hands of
police. Phoenix argues that the relationship between politics and emotion is race. In the
text it says, “So while white people may generally be steered toward the voting booth and
campaign offices when they express anger, black people may generally be steered toward
the front lines of demonstrations, protests and other spaces that challenge the system
rather than work within it” (Phoenix, 115). The American political system was created for
and by white people, so it is guaranteed to work for them, whereas the system was never
meant to cater to Black citizens. The system works against them.
2.
Why do Carter and King-Meadows argue that it is important to investigate Black
opinions despite consistent partisanship? (direct quotes only)
Black Americans have not been adequately represented in all forms of media. Whether it
is through the political lens or entertainment. Our view points, political opinions, and
even our votes are barely represented. The Black political experience and opinion is
extremely different from our white counterparts. Carter and King-Meadows argue that it
is important to investigate Black opinions despite consistent partisanship because of the
former president Donald Trump. During his election campaign, Trump attempted to win
Black voter support during the 2016 election by spending “time talking about black
unemployment and its relationship to illegal immigration. He vowed to strengthen the
Mexican border so that blacks could have a chance at jobs that illegal immigrants
threatened to take away.” While there is a perception of strong partisanship among Black
Americans, the community is not monolithic. Carter and King-Meadows found that
“black linked fate and negative attitudes about Latinos affected blacks’ support for
restrictive immigration policies and anti-immigrant postures closely associated with the
2016 Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump.” Investigating Black opinions
despite consistent partisanship is important because it allows for a more nuanced and
accurate understanding of the diverse perspectives within the Black community, provides
insights into evolving political attitudes, considers intersectionality, informs policy
decisions, and encourages democratic engagement.
3.
What are 3 limitations of the data used in Tillery’s article (i.e., who can we not hear from,
what can we not learn, etc.?
In Alvin B Tillery’s article “What Kind of Movement is Black Lives Matter? The View
from Twitter” Tillery examined the ways in which social movement organizations
affiliated with the Black Lives Matter Movement use Twitter through three content
analysis studies. Tillery used the Python program during this study to scrape the feeds of
six specific BLM Twitter accounts between December 1, 2015 and October 30, 2016.
This time frame is important because it was during the 2016 election between Hillary
Clinton and Donald Trump. With the three hypotheses and variables in mind, three
limitations of the data used in Tillery’s article are DM’s or private messages sent to any
of the six Twitter accounts, comments left on Tweets of the accounts, and posts made
outside of the data range and timeframe.
Four Point Questions
4.
In the Ismail White and Chryl Laird interview, they discussed the methodological basis of
their interview. What was their methodology, where was this initial study conducted, and
what did they find?
The methodology that Laird and White used to test the idea of racialized social constraint
was by doing an analysis to show the long-term trends on African-American political
behavior and their partisan loyalty. They also studied exit poll data and conducted field
lab experiments in 2012 that would put an individual’s self-interest with the expectation
of black political behavior, which is supporting the Democratic Party. They conducted
this experiment at an HBCU in Baton Rouge and found that the commitment to the
Democratic Party could be outweighed by some form of personal self-interest. When they
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changed the condition to “all the contributions would be reported in the university
newspaper along with each person's name” the participants returned to the norm of
contributing to Obama, even with self-interest involved.
5.
In “Why I Won’t Vote”, which presidential election year is Du Bois weighing in on (name
both candidates)? Then, in 3-5 sentences, explain how this essay fits in the broader
context of the Civil Rights Movement.
In “Why I Won’t Vote” Du Bois is weighing in on the 1956 Presidential election with
Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower and Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson.
This essay fits into the broader context of the Civil Rights Movement because it was
written during an election year where neither candidates had adequate or progressive
positions on civil rights and racial equality. This was also a time where significant events,
such as the 1954 Brown v. The Board of Education Supreme Court decision, was taking
place. The essay demonstrates the frustration surrounding the slow paced change and
inadequacy of mainstream political parties in regards to addressing the racial inequality
issues at hand.
6.
How do Slaughter, Crowder, and Greer justify the emphasis on Black women as a group
worth studying and in what ways do they conclude that civic duty is important for
understanding U.S political behavior?
Slaughter, Crowder, and Greer justify the emphasis on Black women as a group worth
studying by comparing the data of Black women voting and for which major political
party, against the data of Black men and white women voting. Also, Black women have a
unique intersectional identity that is different from both Black men and white women.
According to the article, Black women have been given the title of the saving grace of the
Democratic Party. They see voting for the candidate that mostly aligns with their ideals
and values, even if they don’t particularly like that candidate, is better than not voting at
all. Based on the information relayed in the article, civic duty is important for
understanding U.S political behavior because if someone believes that voting is part of
their civic duty to support the democratic process, then it will increase voter turnout. For
Black women, civic duty is seen as a driving force behind their active participation in
U.S. politics.
Five Point Questions
7.
From our class readings, who wrote the inclusion moderation hypothesis, what is the
hypothesis, and what are the circumstances surrounding this hypothesis (i.e., what is the
hypothesis referring more broadly, according to the author)?
The Inclusion-Moderation hypothesis was written by Rachel Beatty Riedl from Cornell
University. The hypothesis suggests that inclusion in electoral competition incentives
more extremist and anti-democratic actors to moderate toward the electorally competitive
center. The circumstances surrounding the hypothesis is that when political parties
representing different ethnic, religious, or cultural groups are included in the political
process and government, they are more likely to moderate their demands and engage in
peaceful, consensual politics rather than resorting to extremist or confrontational tactics.
8.
In the video conversation with Deva Woodly, what are the four forms of care they define?
In the video, Miriam Ticktin stated that care doesn’t have to be a positive emotion, but
more so about responsibility. The four forms of care they define are being emotionally
attached to a formed bond of something, to provide for or to protect something or
someone, attention or concern of something, and to be troubled or worried about
something. According to Ticktin, politics of care is about politics of disruption.
9.
Describe in detail the ways the Willie Horton ad affects political behavior through
political campaigns. Provide at least three specific ways the voting population appears to
have been affected by such an approach.
The Willie Horton ad, used during the 1988 U.S. presidential campaign, affected political
behavior through political campaigns because it is a clear, cut-throat example of negative
political advertising and is considered to have significantly impacted and influenced the
political behavior of the voting population. One way the ad affected political behavior
was through fear. The ad focused on fear as a primary influence of behavioral change. By
invoking the fear of crime, the ad successfully stripped away the support for the
Democratic candidate, Michael Dukakis, by making people view him as “soft on crime”.
Another way the Horton ad affected political behavior through political campaigns was
by using the ad as a distraction from the candidates campaigns and policy issues. The ad
gained a lot of media and public attention which took away the attention from policy
discussion and directed it towards personal attacks. For the Black community, the ad
could have easily discouraged their belief in the importance of voting and disrupted voter
turnout. The last way this ad affected political behavior through political campaigns is
racial stereotyping. This ad possibly drove more conservative votes away from Dukakis
and towards the Republican candidate, George H. W. Bush. The ad increased racial
tensions, negatively affecting the fight to racial equality.
Final Question- 9 points
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10. If Zoltan Hajnal is correct and race is central to partisan divisions, then what ways can
political behavior be used to avoid manipulation from race and parties?
In Zoltan Hajnal’s chapter “Understanding the Demographic Sources of America’s Party
Divisions” he makes the argument that while other demographic factors such as religion,
education, class, and gender are relevant to our partisan affiliations, race, more than
anything else, divides us politically. Racial fears often predict an individual's partisan
choice and Hajnal argues that Republicans have won a large share of the white vote
because they feel that the growing racial and ethnic diversity of the nation’s population is
threatening their strong hold on power and privilege from being the majority. Ways that
political behavior can be used to avoid manipulation from race and parties is by media
literacy. The media is constantly providing images and stories of violence in Black
communities in bad lighting by openly talking down on the Black individual who
committed the crime, but when a white individual commits a crime, they portray them as
a “Good kid” or a “good person who needs help.” Improving media literacy and seeing
the patterns of manipulation can help citizens recognize when race is being used as a
political tool. Another way political behavior can be used to avoid manipulation from
race and parties is through inclusive representation. For a long time, Black people and
other minority groups have not been properly represented in political offices. By
encouraging diverse and inclusive representations for all American citizens, we can
ensure that different perspectives and experiences are taken into consideration and
explore the different intersections of all people. The final way political behavior can be
used to avoid manipulation from race and political parties is by simply fact-checking
information people read online and hear on the news. Not everything we read is true and
random people have the ability to post whatever information they want online without
any data or facts to back up their claims. Ensuring the accuracy of information can help
to prevent manipulation and exploitation of racial identities.