Revisiting Strength in Numbers: Party Mobilization and Minority Turnout

• In Event: Electoral Participation

Abstract

This paper revisits the thesis and findings from Strengths in Numbers? (Leighley, 2001) that provided a comprehensive theory of elite mobilization for minority political participation. In our paper, we resurvey the Texas County Party Chairs post-election to examine how political parties and elites mobilized voters. As parties advocate for mobilizing racial minority groups, it is important for political scientists to continue to assess whether A) political party leaders follow through and B) what impact do their mobilization efforts have upon the political behavior of these groups. Our expectation is that over time, political party leaders have changed the strategies they use to mobilize members of the electorate.

Authors

• Ngoc Phan, Davidson College

• Natasha Altema McNeely, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley