The Effect of Race on Message Interpretation in Public Meetings

• In Event: Race, Representation, and Institutions

Abstract

Constituents use public meetings that are held annually at various levels of government to exert influence over the policy-making process. While scholars have discussed and even theorized about the importance of communication in public meetings, there continues to be a lack of empirical research on how race potentially affects the way public officials engage with and listen to constituents in public meetings. To what extent does race affect how public officials interpret the constituent messages they hear in public meetings? More specifically, how does the understanding or interpretation of a message vary when those expressing the same message differ by race? Furthermore, does race moderate the effects of message content on the public official’s comprehension of the message? To answer these questions, I rely on an experiment in which council members nationwide are asked to watch a video simulating the public comment portion of city council meetings and then respond to a survey about the messages they were exposed to. In the experiment, I manipulate the race of the speaker (Black or White constituent) and the content or type of message spoken (request for constituency service, message on race-related policy, message on a race-neutral policy). Overall, whether city council members pay attention to what constituents say in public meetings is important, but what equally matters is how public officials interpret the messages they hear in these meetings. How local legislators attribute meaning to constituent messages affects the type of action they will pursue, which in turn, has implications for the representative and policymaking process.

Author

• Bai Linh Hoang, University of Texas at Arlington