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Gender, Race, and Descriptive Representation in the United States: Findings from the Gender and Multicultural Leadership Project

September 2007

Carol Hardy-Fanta, University of Massachusetts Boston
Pei-te Lien, University of California, Santa Barbara
Dianne M. Pinderhughes, University of Notre Dame
Christine Marie Sierra, University of New Mexico

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Abstract
This research draws on the nation’s first comprehensive database of elected
leadership of color to provide a multi-cultural, multi-office, and multi-state look at the contours and context of descriptive representation by race and gender and with women of color at the center of analysis. We find that key to the persistent trend of growth in elective office holding of the nation’s Black, Latino, and Asian American communities in recent decades is the expanding size of women of color elected officials. Compared to whites, gender gaps in descriptive representation are smaller among nonwhite groups. Although the proportion of nonwhite population may impact the degree of electoral success, we find parity ratios to vary by race, gender, level of office, and state. For example, states that have the highest share of the black population did not produce the highest level of representation of Black women.

Finally, we find that gender differences within each race are generally significant, but far greater racial differences are found among men and women of color elected officials–especially at the municipal and school board levels of offices. We conclude that women of color have played a significant role in advancing descriptive political representation of people of color and of women in the United States as a whole.

The Voting Rights Act and the Election of Nonwhite Officials

July, 2007

Pei-te Lien, University of California, Santa Barbara
Dianne M. Pinderhughes, University of Notre Dame
Carol Hardy-Fanta, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Christine M. Sierra, University of New Mexico

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Changing Guards, Changing Views:  Preliminary Findings from the Gender and Multicultural Leadership Survey

Pei-te Lien, University of California, Santa Barbara
Christine Marie Sierra, University of New Mexico
Carol Hardy-Fanta, University of Massachusetts Boston
Dianne M. Pinderhughes, University of Notre Dame

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Exploring Dimensions of Interracial Connections between Asian and Other
Nonwhite Elected Officials

Paper prepared for presentation at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian American Studies, New York, April 4-7.

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Cleavage or Convergence:  Elected Officials of Color and the Politics of Immigration

March, 2007

Abstract

Of major theoretical and practical interest in contemporary politics is the incorporation or inclusion of marginalized and underrepresented groups in American society.  This paper examines the perspectives and policy positions of the nation’s elected officials of color toward immigrant incorporation.  The paper reports results from telephone interviews with a national sample of African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and American Indian elected officials (EOs) in local and state legislative office. The GMCL national survey, conducted from June 2006 through January 2007, is part of a larger project on African American, Latina/o, Native American, and Asian American elected officials in U.S. politics.  As the first of its kind, this survey provides a comprehensive examination of the backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of America’s increasingly diverse elected leadership at the local, state, and national levels. 

This paper focuses on examining EOs’ level of support on four immigrant-related policy proposals: the provision of government services in languages other than English; bilingual education in public schools for students not proficient in English; drivers’ licenses for immigrants regardless of legal status; and non-citizen voting rights in local (i.e. school board) elections.  Bivariate analysis finds four sets of factors influence elite positions on the four immigrant-related proposals: perceived constituency characteristics, personal demographic characteristics of the officeholders, a select set of attitudes and political orientations, and institutional/political variables associated with their public office.  Multivariate analysis shows that race and gender matter—but in different ways across the racial and gender groups studied and depending on the policy issues at stake. The results suggest that there is no clear divide among racial groups.  Race and gender groups show a variation of support across the immigrant-related policies. 

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Race, Gender, and Descriptive Representation:
Exploratory View of Multicultural Elected the United States

Revised 9/4/05

To what extent have women and men of color achieved representation in Congress, statewide offices, state legislatures, and local governments? Using data from the first comprehensive database of Black, Latino, Asian and American Indian elected officials, the authors compare the representation levels of these groups by gender, geographical location, and level of office. The importance of the Voting Rights Act to minority electoral representation is also discussed. This paper addresses a continuing challenge for American democracy: the full incorporation of women and racial/ethnic minorities in the nation’s political processes and governing institutions.

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Gender and Multicultural Leadership: The Future of Governance
American Political Science Association

Annual Meeting
Chicago, September 2, 2004

Powerpoint presentation

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