Evaluating Voter Preference for Descriptive vs. Substantive Representation: A Survey of Black Voters in New Orleans (Research & presentation by Anna Johnson)

Project Summary

Goal

My independent research study is meant to evaluate if Black voters in New Orleans prefer descriptive or substantive representation when voting for mayoral candidates.

Protocol

To accomplish this, I am in the process of gathering data via a survey I created on Qualtrics. The survey is administered through Amazon Turk, which is an online sample provider that gives eligible participants "credits" for participating in my survey. Eligible participants are people who reside in New Orleans, are registered to vote, and identify as Black. The survey asks respondents to ask a series of questions regarding their political knowledge, demographics, and political efficacy, and then presents them with 2 mock mayoral elections where they must select one candidate.

End goal

The end result of this research project is an academic paper. The paper begins with a literature review and methods section, and the findings and conclusion will be written once I have results to analyze.

Descriptive vs. Substantive representation

What is descriptive representation?

Descriptive representation means that the representative fits the description of their constituents: they may be of a similar background, of the same race and class, and “stands for” the same things. Typically, descriptive representatives care for a minority group that has been historically excluded from systems of power and their election may be justified as a signal that certain groups are able to participate politically. Some political theorists believe that when voters elect a descriptive representative, they receive intrinsic goods, separate from policy congruence, such as greater trust and pride or a greater sense of political inclusion and access.

What is substantive representation?

Substantive representation occurs when the representative behaves in a way that helps or speaks to the group in which they represent through the policies that they advocate for and implement. The actions the representative takes usually tangibly helps the group they represent. Some political theorists challenge that candidates that present to be substantive representation may still suffer with effective policy implementation if they are elected to office.

Why is the difference important?

It is important to understand what voters are looking for in representatives, and also to understand if Black voters see empowerment rewards that come from descriptive representation as "outweighing" policy rewards that come from substantive representation. Often, substantive and descriptive representation become conflated when greater substantive representation is perceived from a politician that looks like them. Authentic representatives bridge the gap between descriptive and substantive representatives and focus on the most vulnerable people in their political base to elevate everyone’s rights and political status via tangible policy outcomes .

"Some may see adequate representation as representatives winning political battles that change things on the ground, but others value the experiences and relatableness of political candidates that could leave them with a sense of empowerment."

Why am I doing this project?

Last fall, I took a class with Professor Holman titled "Urban Politics" (POLA 4330). In this class, we spent a lot of time talking about different forms of representation. We watched a film, Street Fight, about the 2002 Newark, New Jersey mayoral election between Cory Booker and incumbent Sharpe James. Sharpe won this race, and the film highlighted that Booker was painted as an "outsider" for growing up in the suburbs and attending prestigious universities of Harvard University and subsequently Yale Law School. On the other hand, James had grown up in poverty in the city and was seen in this way to be more authentic in using his experiences as a poor Black man in Newark to assist his constituents. This film along with further class discourse surrounding representation made me curious about how New Orleanians evaluate mayoral candidates. I was specifically interested in the Black voter base, so I limited my study group to these parameters.

survey design

Political Knowledge Questions

• How often do you vote in local elections?
• Do you generally share the same political views as your immediate family and/or those in your household?

Policy Preference Questions

Demographic Questions

• Please select the gender you most identify with.
• How old are you?
• Which ethnicity do you most identify with? (Biracial, Latino/a, African American, Creole)
• What neighborhood did you grow up in?
• What is the highest level of education you have received?
• Do you identify with any of the following religions: Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, or Historically Black Protestant?
• Which religion do you most identify with?

Mock election 1

Descriptive v. substantive representation is evaluated, but race is a controlled variable.

Political Efficacy (with Black mayor)

Political Efficacy (with white mayor)

Race & Representation Question

Mock election 2

Survey strategy

How is inclination towards descriptive vs. substantive representation measured?

• Respondents who choose the candidate who is less policy congruent but more similar to them descriptively effectively have chosen the candidate who is meant to symbolize descriptive representation.
• Respondents who choose the candidate who has full policy congruence but may be considered an "outsider," or for the second election, is white, have effectively chosen substantive representation

How were policy issue areas and policy "sides" chosen?

• Reports regarding public policy in Louisiana (Ballotpedia) and the “2022 Quality of Life Survey for Orleans and Jefferson Parishes.”
• Narrowed down policy issues based on which were described to be most salient for Black voters, or policy issues that disproportionately affect Black voters.
• Cross-referenced with columns from relevant Black reporters such as Jarvis Deberry, noting policy issues that came up in multiple sources in various disciplines (news, scientific articles, reports, speeches, etc).
• Reports of LaToya Cantrell’s mayoral platform speech to narrow down which issues are important in contemporary political culture.
• Selected 6 that I could ask survey respondents about by asking them to choose a “side,” where the two sides of policy preference were clearly opposing. This was important to solidify one candidate as policy congruent and the other as incongruent.

What other strategies were implemented in designing the survey?

• Demographic questions not first
• Answer options went from "least socially desirable" to "most socially desirable" I.e., when asking "How often do you vote in local elections?", the first option was "never" and the last was "always"
• Question loading, i.e. "In this day and age, there are many different mediums of news available. In a typical week, how often do you consume news from the following?"
• Assuring confidentiality (emphasized in consent form)