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The Intersectional Dynamics of Descriptive Representation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2021

Celeste M. Montoya Open the ORCID record for Celeste M. Montoya [Opens in a new window] ,
Christina Bejarano ,
Nadia E. Brown  and
Sarah Allen Gershon
Celeste M. Montoya
Affiliation:
University of Colorado
Christina Bejarano
Affiliation:
Texas Woman's University
Nadia E. Brown
Affiliation:
Purdue University
Sarah Allen Gershon
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
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Abstract

Research on political representation demonstrates that the presence of historically underrepresented groups in political office (descriptive representation) can have not only a substantive impact on policies and procedures but also a symbolic impact that changes the attitudes and even behavior of those groups. The dynamics of group identity and its significance for representation, however, are complicated. Individuals often hold multiple identities, and the meanings attached to those identities may vary in relation to each other and to the particular political context. In this article, we provide an intersectional analysis of two minoritized ethno-racial groups, African Americans and Latinos/as. Using data from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey, we explore the extent to which shared identity matters for perceptions of representation. Our findings demonstrate that while shared identity does influence perceptions of representation, the impact varies in complicated ways that are simultaneously raced and gendered.

Keywords

Political representationcandidate evaluationintersectionalityracegenderU.S. elections
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 2022 , pp. 483 - 512
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Women, Gender, and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association

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Footnotes

The authors acknowledge the financial support for the research by their respective universities (for Christina Bejarano, the University of Kansas).

References

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