Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The debate continues as to whether racial resentment is a coherent belief system and whether or not it represents racial prejudice or ideological issue positions. To add to the scholarly discourse, using data derived from the National Election Study, I find that racial resentment proves to be a significant factor in explaining the defection of partisan voters in presidential elections despite ideological preferences. This suggests a separate brand of ideology, racial ideology, affects vote change above and beyond the principled liberal/conservative ideological effects. Furthermore, racial ideology is having an increasingly greater impact on vote change at the national level than in previous presidential elections.