Paru Shah

It Takes a Black Candidate A Supply-Side Theory of Minority Representation

The ongoing underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in most levels of office continues to warrant our attention. However, scholars have only focused on what factors contribute to the electoral success of minorities, without attention to a vital precursor—the supply of minority candidates. Using data from the Local Elections in America Project, this study provides one of the first glimpses into the supply side of minority representation, detailing how demographic, electoral, and political factors affect the likelihood a black candidate is on the ballot, and the subsequent impact on the likelihood of a black candidate winning.

Not the usual story: the effect of candidate supply on models of Latino descriptive representation

Most of the literature on descriptive representation focuses on voters and the choices they make during an election. Missing from this scholarship, however, is a more complete picture of when and where minority candidates are on the ballot. In this study, we focus on the context in which Latinos are on the ballot in state legislative elections, and the relationship between winning and district composition. We present results using a unique data-set from the 2012 general elections that allows us to compare and contrast empirical analyses and predictions with and without the censoring effect of Latino candidate supply. The findings challenge the traditional role of majority–minority districts, and show quite decisively that descriptive representation is not only a demand problem, as it has been understood for the last few decades, but also a problem of minority candidate supply.

Black Candidates and Black Turnout: A Study of Viability in Louisiana Mayoral Elections

What effect does a candidate’s race have on coracial voter turnout? Recent studies have found mixed results, largely because it is difficult to separate the effect of candidate race from other factors that drive voter turnout. We argue that viability is a key element in the theory of turnout among coracial voters that has been overlooked in the extant literature. We develop a broad-based concept of candidate viability that is dependent on both the candidate and the electoral environment. To test this hypothesis, we make use of the unique runoff structure of mayoral elections in the state of Louisiana between 1988 and 2011. We argue that runoff elections heighten viability in ways rarely seen in most elections. We find that while there is an effect of candidate race on black turnout in general elections, the effect is much more robust in runoff elections.

Are We There Yet? The Voting Rights Act and Black Representation on City Councils, 1981–2006

Sound evidence demonstrating what, if any, role the Voting Rights Act (VRA) has played in the impressive gains minorities have made in local office holding over the last 45 years remains in short supply. The present study is motivated by three crucial questions. First, where are gains in minority office holding most apparent, and how are these gains related to the VRA? Second, while studies have noted gains in black representation over time, the question of how the VRA in particular has contributed to these gains remains unclear. Finally, given claims made by opponents of the 2006 legislation reauthorizing the VRA that it was no longer needed, the question of when the VRA has been most efficacious, and if it continues to be relevant, is also salient. Our findings suggest that the VRA has been and continues to be an important tool in ensuring black descriptive representation, particularly in places with a legacy of racial intimidation and discrimination.

Linking the Process and Outcomes of Parent Involvement Policy to the Parent Involvement Gap

This study compares what schools are doing to engage parents and analyzes the efficacy of these initiatives across predominantly Black, Latino, and White schools. Using the National Center for Education Statistics’s (NCES) Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS, 1999-2004), we specify a model that accounts both for factors associated with school policies and practices to engage parents in school- and home-based activities and the extent to which these policies affect parent involvement. Findings indicate that predominantly Black and Latino schools achieve significant gains in parent involvement as the number of policies in place to support and encourage participation increases, but that not all programs achieve the same results within or across racial contexts. Furthermore, we find leadership by minority principals, teacher attributes, responsibilities and training, as well as greater shares of Title 1 funding are positively and significantly related to school- and home-based policies across all three racial contexts.

The Role of Minority Journalists, Candidates, and Audiences in Shaping Race-Related Campaign News Coverage

The question of whether press coverage of racial/ethnic minorities has improved remains. This study tackles it by examining (a) how journalists’ race/ethnicity affects campaign news coverage of race-related issues and (b) whether the nature of coverage is moderated by minority candidates and the racial composition of audiences. We pair local news coverage of 3,400 state legislative candidates with news data from 663 news outlets. We find newsroom diversity by itself does not influence the coverage of race-related issues. But in areas with large numbers of minority audiences, media outlets with diverse newsrooms are significantly more likely to cover race-related issues.

Racial Change, Racial Threat, and Minority Representation in Cities:

As the racial complexion of cities has shifted over the last 20 years, the struggles for political power have become more complex. Some cities, like Ferguson, Missouri, have seen their Black population grow substantially, but their descriptive representation stall. Others, like Compton, California, have moved from predominantly Black to predominantly Latino, and are asking themselves if the two racial minorities can govern together. Building upon theories of racial threat, in this project, I examine explicitly the independent effects of racial change on the likelihood of Black and Latino representation across cities in the United States between 1981 and 2011, and the likelihood of minority candidate emergence in California between 1995 and 2010. Using three demographic profiles as a frame—majority White, majority–minority, and multiracial cities—the results suggest the intersections between racial context and shifting political and racial landscapes have important consequences of minority political power for the future.