This article examines whether democratic accountability worsens racial inequalities by analyzing retrospective voting patterns. Focusing on local elections, it explores how voters evaluate government performance based on student outcomes.
📍 Data & Methods:
* Analysis of 10 years of California school board election results (674 races).
* Examination of public opinion data regarding the racial education achievement gap.
* Original survey experiment involving current and former California school board members.
📊 Key Findings:
* Voters primarily consider white student outcomes, giving them about 2/3 of attention previously attributed to all students combined.
* Incumbents indicate they face significantly less electoral pressure concerning minority achievement gaps.
* Roughly four in ten incumbents report no electoral concern regarding poor academic results for minority students.
🔍 Why It Matters:
These findings suggest retrospective voting may disproportionately target certain racial groups. The paper argues this overlooked aspect has implications for understanding policy responsiveness and democratic representation, particularly in the context of California's complex education system.
| Racial Inequality in Democratic Accountability: Evidence from Retrospective Voting in Local Elections was authored by Patrick Flavin and Michael T. Hartney. It was published by Wiley in AJPS in 2017. |
