Strategic Discrimination

• In Event: Gender, Race, and Running for Office

Abstract

Why are women and people of color underrepresented in US politics? This paper offers a new explanation: strategic discrimination. Strategic discrimination occurs when an individual discriminates against a candidate out of concern that others will object to the candidate's identity. In two separate experiments, I find that strategic discrimination exists, and it matters for real-world politics. In the abstract, Americans consider white men more "electable" than equally qualified black and female candidates. Additionally, concerns about winning the votes of white men can cause voters to rate black and female Democratic candidates as less capable of beating Donald Trump in 2020. Especially in an era of extreme polarization, party leaders, donors, and primary voters may gravitate toward white male candidates who feel like a safe bet, rather than taking a chance on a woman or a person of color whose path to victory seems less clear. That’s strategic discrimination in action.

Author

• Regina A. Bateson, University of Ottawa